Pause for Prayer: SATURDAY 10/16

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I need you to teach me your ways, Lord,
because I keep getting lost...

I must have a terrible sense of direction!
Over and over, I find myself
      turning right when I should make a left,
      heading north when I should go south,
      missing the arrow on a one-way street,
      traveling in circles and winding up
      where I first began 

      which was the very place
      I wanted to leave...

The signs are all there, Lord - but I get distracted;

I don't pay attention; my mind wanders;
I trust my own compass and that's a mistake:
   the needle's true north is tricked by my pride and my fear;
   my needs and desires create a false field
   and before I know it I'm drawn from the path I wanted to walk,
   the way you taught me to follow...
   
And so many times, too many times, 

I find myself lost in all the same places

where I've been lost before...

So often, I know I turn the wrong way,

sensing inside that another way's better

and yet, still - I turn the wrong way...

Do I choose to get lost when I turn from the path,

the journey you've charted for me?
Why don't I follow the signs you lay out

to give me direction and warnings for safety,

to show me the way that leads to your peace?
        
I've got maps in my pocket, my heart and my mind:
your word and your wisdom mark the way

that keeps me from harm and gives me direction,
making simple and clear the road I should take...
             
Teach me, Lord, the way I should go
and sharpen my instinct to turn from harm's way
to avoid the paths that end in darkness...

Teach me, Lord, to follow not my map but yours:
to surrender my faulty compass and trust your Spirit

to guide me where you'd have me go,

along the route that leads me swiftly, safely 

to your peace...

Teach me, Lord, to follow your ways,

to desire to walk the path that's yours

with its twists and turns, its ups and downs,
 its broad plains and its hills and valley;
teach me to walk in your footsteps
when your path is hard and demanding

and not the way I might choose on my own...

Teach me to lean on you, Lord,

when the way is rough and my soul is tired;

when the road seems endless

and the journey drains my strength:
    be there to lift and refresh me,
   to remind me you're always by my side...

In the quiet of my prayer, Lord,

sit with me and help me know where I am:

      where I've come from, how I got here,

      where I'm heading, where you draw me

      and how, with your help, I'll get there... 

In the stillness, by the roadside, here in my prayer,

give me a glimpse of the map of my life;
let me see how you've been there along the way
when I followed your lead and your path...

 With your Spirit as compass

 help me find the way, the path that's mine,

 the road that leads to your peace...

 

Amen.
     

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