Category Archives: prayer

October 2, 2016 · 9:11 pm

Hashtagged Laments: Praying Psalm 13

Hear Our Cries, O Lord: (Psalm 13:1-2, NIV)

“How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?”

#Aleppo #AlyanKurdi #Syria

“How long will you hide your face from me?”

#ReturnOurGirls #childsoldiers #MMIW

“How long must I wrestle with my thoughts…”

#endthestigma #poverty #homelessness

“…and day after day have sorrow in my heart?”

#SandraBland #PhilandoCastile #TerenceCrutcher

“How long will my enemy triumph over me?”

#DoctrineofDiscovery #NativeLivesMatter #lament

 

Look on Us and Have Mercy: (Psalm 13:3-4, The  Message)

“Take a good look at me, God, my God;”

#Orlando #genderequity #bodyshaming

“I want to look life in the eye,”

#incarceration #lynching #deathpenalty

“So no enemy can get the best of me…”

#misogyny #humantrafficking #residentialschools

“or laugh when I fall on my face.”

#refugee #immigrant #saytheirnames

 

We Long for Your Deliverance: (Psalm 13:5-6, ESV) 

“But I have trusted in your steadfast love;”

#MotherEmanuel #FaithfullyLGBT

“my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.”

#withjusticeforall #untilallarefree

“I will sing to the Lord,”

#blessingnotburden #reconciliation

“because he has dealt bountifully with me.”

#KyrieEleison

Amen. 

 

 

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November 18, 2013 · 11:19 am

Faith of the Wind and Waves

This morning, I found myself praying by simply listening to the wind. Don’t get me wrong: I am not talking about a mystical or other-worldly experience that overtook me. And I am certainly not advocating the adoption of a neo-pagan meditation practice. Rather, in listening to the wind, I found myself praying – but the praying was not me bringing words to the table, but me learning to be still. Psalm 46 comes to mind. As I think about it, this listening prayer really started last night as I noticed one of our trees leaning a bit more than usual as the rain soaked the ground and the winds pushed their way through our area.  It continued through the night as the wind howled around the corners of our house and the trees’ groaning woke me several times. And then again this morning, as I drove our kids to school this morning and felt the need to adjust my steering in order to compensate for the wind’s continued pushiness, I continued to listen.  Continue reading →

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July 8, 2013 · 11:24 am

A Monday Morning Prayer

God, 
 
I’m waking up today in the relative quiet of our rented home.
The sky is blue with a few clouds slowly drifting by.
The windows are open. I’ve heard seven distinct bird calls –
   there’s a crow and a jay
   but I can’t name most them by their chirps,
   yet, you know them.
There is a cricket, too –
   no, wait; it’s not a cricket, it’s some other small insect
   declaring its presence
   above the background noise of a squirrel chattering
   as if something has just caught its attention for the first time.
An occasional car or two meanders past our house,
otherwise the hustle and bustle of the world around me this morning
comes from the stirring of your creation. 
I pray that I might have eyes to see and ears to hear
the goodness of your creation today.
 
Yet, I must admit,
that prayer seems daunting, almost impossible.
Continue reading →

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June 19, 2012 · 2:06 pm

A Juneteenth Prayer

Almighty God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – we praise your name, for you alone are God. There is none like you, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding with covenantal faithfulness. You care for the orphans and widows and look upon the immigrant with affection. Your love is not threatened by the ways we diminish, marginalize, and destroy each other. There is no one like you. Continue reading →

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May 20, 2012 · 10:02 am

Unceasing Prayer

While reading a chapter of Richard Foster’s book Prayer this morning:

“Do we really think we can experience integration of heart and mind and spirit with an erratic prayer life? Do we really believe we can, like Moses, “speak face to face” with God as someone would a friend by our unpredictable prayers? No, we develop intimacy by regular association. We develop ease as well. Why ease? Because we are forming fixed habits of righteousness. In time these “holy habits” will do their work of integration so that praying becomes the easy thing, the natural thing, the spontaneous thing – the hard thing will be to refrain from prayer.”

That last phrase is sticking with me this morning. What would it be like to be in such consistent communion with God that it would be difficult to “refrain from prayer”?

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