Praying 10 minutes today: FRIDAY 4/5

Find a quiet time and place to pray... take a few deep breaths...

be still... and know that God is near...

A word to reflect on:  
Lord,

   send out your Spirit

   and renew the face of the earth...  
- Psalm 104

(Before moving on to the reflection below,

   spend some quiet time with the scripture verse above...)

I watch a leaf, dropped from a tree,

   skittering here and there 

      at the whim and will of the wind...

I'm walking and so I begin to follow the leaf:

   it dawdles and pokes along and then of a sudden,

      with surprising lift, it leaps - a jeté of energy -

         sprung from a spirit my thirsty soul longs for...

Lord, send out your Spirit
   and renew the face of the earth... 

I am that leaf, Lord, 

   sometimes stalled and still upon the grassy path

   and sometimes skipping about as if I knew a secret

      I'd sworn not to tell but couldn't wait to share...

I am that leaf, Lord,

   and your Spirit's the wind that lifts me, carries me

     and gently sets me down to rest...

I am that leaf, Lord, 

   and without your breath I'd have no life, no power,

      to rise above what keeps me down,

      to fly beyond what holds me back,

      to slip from all that pulls me from your arms...

I am that leaf, Lord,

   and some days I cry for you to lift me up,

   to lift me out of sorrow's depths,

   to lift me to the peace I know is only yours to give...

Lord, send out your Spirit
   and renew the face of the earth...

 When your gracious wind begins to give me flight, Lord,

   let nothing weigh so heavy on my heart

      that I should fall and miss your Spirit's breath...

Turn my soul to catch your breeze, a boat's sail

   filled to bursting with your Spirit's power, this heart of mine
      stretched to ride whatever waves may come...

Lord, send out your Spirit
   and renew the face of the earth... 

I am that leaf, Lord,

   and I thank you for the dance your Spirit's breath

      brings each day to my play within my soul...

I am that leaf, Lord,

   and you're the wind I need to breathe,
      to dance, to run, to play, to live and make my way
         with grace along this path of mine...

Lord, send out your Spirit
   and renew the face of the earth...

In the quiet of my prayer, Lord, with your Spirit

   lift me up and carry me along

      wherever you might call my soul fly this day...

In the stillness, Lord, help me remember

   all the days and ways you've carried me 

      when I've not known the source of all my strength...

In my prayer, Lord, help me remember

   how your Spirit's been my breath, my life, 

      and most of all my hope when I have been

         a leaf dropped from a tree...

Lord, send out your Spirit
   and renew the face of the earth...   

 

To ponder and pray over...

When have been those moments when the breath of God's Spirit
   has been the wind beneath my wings?
How many times have I stood my ground, resisting the Spirit's lead,
   preferring, instead, to stew in my own problems?
How will I pray, today, for the Lord to set me a like a sail
   to catch the Spirit's power?

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?

(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.

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