My Prayer

I have arisen early that we might have this undisturbed holy time together. I know that You are the source of my being. I know that You are the source of whatever thoughts I may have. You know me better than I know myself, and yet You are willing to work with and through me to the end that I might better understand myself. Without You I am nothing, but through You I am part of everything. Praised be Your name!

I confess that the words keep running through my mind, “My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?” Because that is how it feels. I am surrounded by the evil of selfishness and greed, of injustice, oppression, and exploitation, and by every outward appearance it is being rewarded. The misuse and abuse of Your living Word is rampant, and what I know to be untrue about Your nature and will is gaining ever-wider acceptance among those who take Your name in vain.

I fail to comprehend what is going through the minds of so many of Your children--my brothers and sisters. It is so clear to me that throughout the ages You have powerfully and majestically revealed Yourself in and through those lives that were perfectly consumed by their comprehension of You, and yet their insight and understanding is so vulnerable to the perversion and corruption brought about by those who value their will above Yours.

I’m confused. Am I really supposed to remove the log from my own eye before I attempt to remove the speck from my sister’s or brother’s? Have I truly been commissioned to be a good steward of this planet and its resources? Am I really my brother’s and sister’s keeper? Is the ultimate purpose of my life to love You with all my heart, soul and mind? Am I actually to love my neighbor as I love myself and to love my enemies by turning the other cheek? Are You really love?

Surely no one knows better than You the empty lip service paid to such concepts and ideals by those disingenuous souls that capitalize upon their claim to be Your ordained. They profess themselves Your servants while distorting Your Word to accomplish their own evil ends, and do so with seeming impunity simply by invoking Your blessing and authority. And the masses for whom Jesus wept embrace such blasphemy while singing “for the Bible tells me so.” The mortal perspective begs the question: was Your gift of human volition blessing or curse?

For me, it is the utmost blessing. I thank You for making it possible to approach You with my innermost thoughts and feelings. I thank You for being ever-present as my “suffering companion” who anoints me and sustains me in the presence of my enemies. I thank You for revealing yourself through the example of those who sacrificially live Your Truth, that I might find in them the courage and the strength to follow in their footsteps that lead me not into temptation, but truly deliver me from evil. Forgive my doubt. Increase my understanding. Amen.