A Concord Pastor Comments: Pause for Prayer: SUNDAY 7/24

You read my mind and heart...

You know me, Lord, better than anyone else

and you know me far better than I know myself...

From before all time you knew me:

you knew who my parents would be,

you knew the day of my birth,

you knew my blood type and the color of my eyes,

the shape of my head, my ears and my nose

and the look of my face...

From before all time you knew me, Lord

and you loved me even then...

And you love me now...

You know every thought I'll have before I have it.

You know where my mind will go before I begin to think.

You know which of my thoughts I don't want you to know

and the thoughts I try to keep from myself.

You know my best thoughts and my worst thoughts,

my pipe dreams and my serious plans...

Even while I'm sleeping you know my mind:
   you know my dreams - and you understand them!
And you know my nightmares, Lord,
   and the fears I carry from sleep to the light of day...

You know my schemes and designs,
and the thoughts I'm embarrassed to acknowledge before you.
You know my loves and you know my lust,
   my generosity and my greed;
you know my selfish and my selfless sides...

You know my strengths and my weaknesses,
   my good deeds and my sins,
my true resolve and my half-baked promises...

You know the truth of who I am, Lord,
   and you know the lies I tell others,
the lies I tell myself
   and the lies I try to tell you...

You know every broken piece of my life
   and how much I need your mending hand,
      your healing help...

You know where I've been, Lord,
   and how I've followed and failed in walking your path.
You know where I belong, you know where I am,
   you know what I'm doing here,
      for weal or for woe.
And you know where I'm going,
   though that's something of a mystery yet to me...

You know that I love you, Lord,
   and you know when and how and why
      I love you less than I ought.
Yet you love me, Lord, and never fail
   to call my heart to greater, deeper love of you,
      of my neighbor and of myself...

You know me inside-out and try as I might,
   there's no hiding from your watchful eye,
      no running from your arms' reach.
There's no escaping your strong arm's embrace
   no matter how I struggle, thinking like a fool,
      I might do better on my own...

You know and call the stars by name, Lord,
   but there's so much more to know of us, your own,
      and so much more to love in every heart you've made...

In the quiet of my prayer, Lord, call me by name:
   let my heart hear your voice
      and let me know your love...

Teach me, Lord, to love as I am loved
   and to find my joy in you
      who know me oh-so-well
         - and yet, you love me still...

Amen.