A Concord Pastor Comments: Monday Morning Offering: 11/27

Good morning, good God!

I heard this song a few days ago,
the lyrics so beautiful,
drawing me in, Lord,
singing me into your presence:

Sing God a simple song,
lauda, laude
Make it up as you go along,
lauda, laude
Sing like you like to sing,
God loves all simple things
for God is the simplest of all...

You are the simplest of all, Lord,
but when I come to you in prayer,
or even think about coming to you in prayer,
I can manage to make things so needlessly complicated...

I try to "make time" for prayer
-- as though there might be anything in my life
more important than spending some time with you...

I forget that unlike busy old me
you're always ready to meet me in prayer,
never too busy to sit down with me
or take a walk;
your calendar is always open for me,
you're never too busy to get together for a while
or just to meet, quietly, in the world behind my eyes,
closed for just a moment..

What an amazing grace, Lord!
I finally "make time" to pray,
I'm not even sure what to say -
and you're simply pleased
that I've shown up...

Remind me that finding time for prayer is simple, Lord:
the time is there for the making,
the time is there for the taking...

I worry about what to say when I pray,
forgetting that you're always ready
to pick up our conversation where we left off
even if I've forgotten when last we spoke
or what we talked about...

While I worry about what to say
you're simply happy that I've come 'round again!
You're pleased with my prayer
even when it has no words -
you're pleased with the prayer of my presence...

I make prayer a complicated affair
when I worry about what to say,
and how to say it and the right way to say it -
as if you might possibly turn down my prayer
because I stumbled in finding the "right words"
(or found no words at all)
to speak all my heart had to say...

I forget that you understand completely
the prayer of my tears, the groans of my pain,
the shivers of my fears, the silence of my sorrow
and the peaceful sigh of finding myself,
finally, again, in your presence...

I don't need special words, Lord,
and I know you're pleased
when I "make it up as I go along"
for those are the words that come
not from a book but from my heart...

Remind me, Lord,
that finding words for prayer is simple:
I need only speak your name, or sit in peaceful silence...

I forget that it's you who calls me to prayer, Lord,
that you know what's on my mind and in my heart
even before I think to pray...

Your love for me is simple, Lord:
you wait for me always,
even when I've been away a long time;
you welcome me warmly
even when I've strayed from your Word;
you look me in the eye
even when I can't look back into yours;
you open your arms to me
even when I've been unfaithful;
you are there for me, everywhere,
even when I've ignored your presence...

I don't need the words and wisdom of saints
to come to you in prayer, Lord,
I need only simple things:
to thank you for my blessings,
praise you for your glory
seek pardon for my failures,
ask for help in my trouble
and the grace to be, a little more each day,
as simple as you are, Lord...

Remind me that meeting you in prayer is simple, Lord:
like meeting and speaking with an old friend,
a good friend who loves me as I am...

Help me, Lord, to "sing like I like to sing"
and to pray like I like to pray
and to find myself in your presence
whenever your Spirit moves me to pray...

I offer you my uncomplicated prayer, Lord,
and ask you to receive me
into the simplicity of your presence and your heart...

Open me to the simple ways in which those around me
remind me of your presence and call me to prayer...

Make simpler my ways that others might find in me
the simple peace you share with us all...

Remind me, Lord,
that what's simpler is better,
deeper and stronger...

You love all simple things, Lord:
show me how you love my simple self and my simple prayer...

This is my simple Monday morning prayer, Lord,
I offer it today and all through the week ahead...

Lauda, lauda, laude
Lauda, lauda, di da di day,
all of my days...

Amen.