April 1, 2014

Accepting His will...

Prayer for the Acceptance of God’s Will

O Lord, I do not know what to ask of You.
You alone know what are my true needs.
You love me more than I myself know how to love.
Help me to see my real needs which are concealed from me.
I do not dare to ask either for a cross or for consolation.
I can only wait on You. My heart is open to You.
Visit and help me, for the sake of Your great mercy.
Strike me and heal me; cast me down and raise me up.
I worship in silence Your holy will and Your unsearchable ways.
I offer myself as a sacrifice to You.
I have no other desire than to fulfill Your will.
Teach me to pray. Pray You Yourself in me.
Amen

Personal Challenge...

Every day I pray this prayer as part of my personal prayer rule. It is so easy to slip into a mode of repeating something by rote and failing to really let the words sink into our hearts, minds, and souls. As I process this prayer today we are in the midst of a very unknown time, with basically every part of a critical decision taken out of our hands. All we can do is wait, and wait, and wait, all the time watching the clock tick down to another critical event that has been set in motion and will definitely come to fruition. It feels like standing between two giant dominoes as you see all the rest of the line falling in your direction. So as I read this prayer again today am I just reading the words on the page or am I lifting them up to my Lord as a sacrifice to Him? Am I willing to give up my life, my desires, to Him as a sacrifice and trust that He will do the best thing for us at the perfect time? He has never disappointed or failed me. He will not start now. Lord have mercy.