Friday Prayer, March 17, 2017

branches-spring-buds
The buds trust that spring is coming, even if there’s snow on the ground…

Does something, some area, in your life feel stuck?

Is there something plaguing at you…a place where  you simply do not see a way out? A way through?

It’s in these moments when I really struggle to believe in abundance. To trust God sees and works beyond what I configure myself. And yet this is the very promise upon which I have to rely.

Richard Rohr reminded me in a recent post that when people ask him how long they should pray, his answer is, “as long as it takes you to get to yes.”

God is full of “yes” when all I see and feel is “no.” It’s why I love and cling to the promise from 2 Corinthians 1:20 – “For all the promises of God in Christ are yes.”

This is a prayer I wrote and shared a couple years ago, and yet I find it’s words freshly relevant. Let’s pray toward yes….

***

O God,

You hold me. You keep me steady in seasons of waiting. You keep me trusting in seasons of struggle. You keep me hoping in seasons of confusion. I thank you, God, for holding me in all these times, and for holding all my questions…

So many questions…

Please teach me, God, to breathe in your peace when all seems uncertain, and to exhale anxiety when all feels unknown. With your renewing fingers, stretch and mold my spirit to a fresh flexibility and grace.

I hear once again your call to hold my life with open hands. To realize I’m not as in control as I want to be. I can plan, prepare, hope, and pray, but sometimes, surprises blindside me.

I try to make things go my way, but sometimes, they don’t.

I work to change people I love, but sometimes, they won’t.

I do my very best and work my very hardest, but sometimes, it’s still not enough for what I want.

And so, dear God, I open my hands in release, letting all that I am and all that I hold float up into the loving hands you stretch out toward me.

I breathe in your peace, and as I exhale, I unclench my fists…releasing control, trusting your promises.

In your trustworthy name, Jesus. Amen.

 

 

 

11 Comments

  1. Your prayer this morning spoke to me so gently….”breathe in peace…and exhale anxiety.” Thank you, dear Arianne.

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