Monday, October 24, 2016

Dear God,

When we pray we walk the hallowed, holy halls of heaven.  In the quiet space we draw near to you and to those we pray for.

Sometimes it feels there is a great distance between heaven and earth.  Yet, when we stop ourselves, pause, and pray, we enter the holy of holies because you are always with us when we pray. As we make our offerings, pleading our case for family, friends, and even strangers half way around the world, you make yourself known to us.  You walk with us.  You listen and hear us but you remind us when our words have all been said, it is time to listen and hear you.  No prayer is finished when we say "amen," it is just a pause while we tune our souls to you.  Only then do we see, hear, and know what you have to say to us.

If we pray all day long, words and silence together, we walk with you all day long.  Breaths of gratitude, lifting up names of those we love and worry about, and sharing the truth of where we are in our own lives keeps us close.  Especially do you hear when we pray for the stranger, for the nation in trouble, for those whose pain is deep, for those who are lost, hungry, and afraid.  When we pray for those we do not know, you draw us close to them in refugee camps, hospitals, war zones, areas of disaster, and even national governments.  You inspire us to pray because you want us to remember them, to care, and to do our part.  As we pray fervently for them, we find ourselves deep in faith.  There we discover ourselves in holy places with you.

We thank you,
Gracious God,
for the gift
of prayer.
Thank you
for quiet moments
with you.
All day long
guide us
toward prayer
so we
may walk
with you,
so we
may walk
with our neighbor
far and near,
and so we
may walk
toward the holy.

Love, Andrea