Easter is the holiest time of year on our Christian calendar. If we try and ignore the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our faith is worthless. May I encourage you to take some time to reflect on your spiritual walk this Easter?
I came across this prayer some years’ ago and thought how relevant it was for us today.
Patient God, we are people in a hurry.
We confess that we value faster more than deeper, and getting there more than growing.
We miss the tiger lily on our way to the art museum, the wren’s song on our way to the concert. God, we even miss the child on the way to the adult.
We hurry to do things ourselves, God, because Your steady, deliberate slowness irritates and scares us.
Teach us to trust You so we can simply wait. We only know how to wait with fingers tapping.
God, some days we don’t have any fun. We don’t have the time or the energy for fun.
We’re too busy trying—trying to get caught up, trying to make sense of our lives, trying to be better people.
God, show us when we try too hard.
Teach us not to be afraid to let go. Teach us to trust You. Teach us to be gentle with ourselves.
We confess that we think we’ve done some things right.
But sometimes it all feels like a perpetual struggle—between fear and love, anger and love, pride and love, pain and love; a struggle between foolishness and wisdom, individualism and responsibility, how others define us and how we define ourselves.
We commit ourselves to keep on, but we get tired, impatient, angry, and scared, so then we give up and give in, then we fail You, each other, and ourselves.
Have mercy on us, forgive us, free us, love us, through Jesus the Christ we pray. Amen.
* Source of prayer unknown. If you have any idea of its author, I would be delighted to acknowledge that person.
Jenny Billingham
(If you have a topic that you’d like more information about and think might interest other parents, please don’t hesitate to email me with suggestions at j.billingham@mueller.qld.edu.au Thanks.)
