Find a quiet time and place to pray... take a few deep breaths...
be still... and know that God is near...
to reflect on:
Lead me out of my prison, Lord,
that I may give thanks to your name...
- Psalm 142
(Before moving on to the reflection below,
I wrote this prayer about 13 years ago when I celebrated Mass every month at the Essex County House of Correction in Middleton. Recently I had prayer cards made with this text which I gave to the Catholic chaplain at MCI Concord. Today I share them with you.
One needn't live behind bars to pray these words, we all have prisons, sometimes of our own making. Lent might be just the season for looking at what imprisons us and asking Christ to come and set us free...
A Prayer For Freedom In My Heart
Give me freedom in my heart, Lord,
when I feel locked up, locked in and locked down...
Give me freedom in my heart
when I'm walled in by loneliness...
Give me freedom in my heart
when I feel imprisoned by my past...
Give me freedom in my heart,
when anxiety holds me a prisoner of fear...
Lead me out of my prison, Lord,
Give me freedom in my heart, Lord,
when I'm confined by days and nights
that pass too slowly...
Give me freedom in my heart
to accept your word,
your forgiveness, your peace and your love...
Give me freedom in my heart
to share with others
what you have given me, Lord...
Give me freedom in my heart
to become the person
you made and call and ask me to be...
Lead me out of my prison, Lord,
Give me freedom in my heart, Lord,
to thank and praise you
for all you've given me
and for all you promise me...
+ + +
Hear my prayer and free me, Lord,
from all that keeps me under lock and key...
Let nothing hold me save your truth, your mercy,
your wisdom and your love...
In the stillness of my prayer, Lord,
let me hear your Spirit's key unlocking
all that holds me bound...
Lead me out of my prison, Lord,
(Before moving on to the reflection below,
spend some quiet time with the scripture verse above...)
I wrote this prayer about 13 years ago when I celebrated Mass every month at the Essex County House of Correction in Middleton. Recently I had prayer cards made with this text which I gave to the Catholic chaplain at MCI Concord. Today I share them with you.
One needn't live behind bars to pray these words, we all have prisons, sometimes of our own making. Lent might be just the season for looking at what imprisons us and asking Christ to come and set us free...
A Prayer For Freedom In My Heart
Give me freedom in my heart, Lord,
when I feel locked up, locked in and locked down...
Give me freedom in my heart
when I'm walled in by loneliness...
Give me freedom in my heart
when I feel imprisoned by my past...
Give me freedom in my heart,
when anxiety holds me a prisoner of fear...
Lead me out of my prison, Lord,
that I may give thanks to your name...
Give me freedom in my heart, Lord,
when I'm confined by days and nights
that pass too slowly...
Give me freedom in my heart
to accept your word,
your forgiveness, your peace and your love...
Give me freedom in my heart
to share with others
what you have given me, Lord...
Give me freedom in my heart
to become the person
you made and call and ask me to be...
Lead me out of my prison, Lord,
that I may give thanks to your name...
Give me freedom in my heart, Lord,
to thank and praise you
for all you've given me
and for all you promise me...
+ + +
Hear my prayer and free me, Lord,
from all that keeps me under lock and key...
Let nothing hold me save your truth, your mercy,
your wisdom and your love...
In the stillness of my prayer, Lord,
let me hear your Spirit's key unlocking
all that holds me bound...
Lead me out of my prison, Lord,
that I may give thanks to your name...
To ponder and pray over...
What imprisons me?
What incarcerates my spirit?
What locks up my heart?
What walls in my freedom to be the person
you created me to be?
Who holds the key to open my cell door?
What imprisons me?
What incarcerates my spirit?
What locks up my heart?
What walls in my freedom to be the person
you created me to be?
Who holds the key to open my cell door?
What will I ask of the Lord today?
From this prayer time, what word or phrase will I keep with me
to carry through the rest of my day?
From this prayer time, what word or phrase will I keep with me
to carry through the rest of my day?
(After you spend some time with these questions,
pray the reflection above one more time...)
Here are some tips for praying 10 minutes a day. If you find these daily prayer reminders helpful, please let me know - and share them with others. You'll find an archive of these daily posts here.
Tweet
Subscribe to A Concord Pastor Comments
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please THINK before you write
and PRAY before you think!