Pause for Prayer: THURSDAY 3/31

 

Sometimes, Lord,

    we think we don't know how to pray,

    we can't find the words to say,

    we wonder if we pray "the right way..."

How did we become so misinformed

    about something so important, Lord?

When did we begin to think of prayer

    as a rare gift? a specialized skill?

    an art we've not yet mastered?

How did we come to forget 

    that every thought, sigh, hope and cry, 

    every grunt and gasp and word of ours
    sounds in your heart as soon, as surely,
    and as purely

    as any saint's more studied prayer?

Help us remember, Lord,

that simply sitting in your presence,

... in silence...
... in total silence...
... in awkward silence...
... in numbed silence...

is a prayer, a silent prayer,
whose eloquence delights you...

Our very wanting to pray, Lord,

is a sign you're already with us,

nudging our hearts to trust that you're near:
    our desire to pray
    is already a prayer,
    before our prayer takes shape or speech...

You invite us to voice our joys and hopes

    and to vent our hurts and sorrows -

though all of them are known to you
    long before we even think to pray...

Before infants have a word to say,

they pray:

    their cooing, mumbling and crying

    all sputter forth their wordless pleas

    of wonder, hunger, fear and joy,

    of their desire to be held
    by those who hear in every sound they make

    the beauty of a prayer that has no words...

Be mother and father to us all Lord,

    and hear our every prayer

    - with or without words...

Receive the prayers that spill out from our souls:

    prayers with no words

        and prayers with too many words;

    prayers we sob upon your breast

        and prayers we sing from happy hearts;

    prayers that rise from our profound confusion

        which, in your wisdom, Lord,
        you completely understand...

We offer you each thought, sigh,

    hope, cry and word of ours

    that pulses and pleads from deep within...

Let the prayer of beating hearts be heard

    and held in your eternal heart -

and in your mercy, Lord,

    answer us, we pray...

 

Hear and answer every prayer we make

    - prayers with words and prayers without...

Amen.

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