Prayer Part Three

 

Authoring God, as I wind down and wrap up this week, I know You are faithfully and loving helping me write the stories I tell ~ about myself, others, the world and Your presence. Honestly, God, I often miss the plot points. I can get caught up in whether the punctuation is correct or whether the verb tenses agree. I get stuck in the negativity and don't see the possibility. Sometimes the pain and ache of the story can overwhelm me. The grief for the shooting at the elementary school this week, the lives of young children extinguished...this following so close on the shooting in Buffalo that was fueled by racism. I wonder, where is this story going? I wonder about the bigger story of humanity and creation. I wonder how I, as a featherless biped, through social media posts, sermons, and being a pastor can help? Enter the story of each of our lives O God afresh and anew. Enter the story we are telling in our hearts. I pray for You to interrupt the story with creativity that spurs hope. I pray for You to edit the story with new words of imagination.

I pray for you to re-write the story with fresh new lines of faith to trace for these days. Open my heart, O God, to hear the story of Your love being found in moments when morning has broken, like this morning. Open my ears, O God, to hear the story of Your presence in family and friends whose support feeds my life. Open my soul, O God, with courage to share that today is like a fresh piece of paper placed in a typewriter (Okay, that metaphor might be a bit dated, but go with me.) Help us hear and live that great hymn as our soundtrack: "I love to tell the story of Jesus endless love." May those words set my soul surging and help keep me open to You, O God, whose wisdom can guide all of us through the wilderness of these days. Amen.