Dearest Lord,

On this day like every other, we raise before you a great many prayer requests.    Some are prayers of thanksgiving and celebration, while others are prayers of strength and comfort.    This morning our hearts are filled with both.

I remember a time that seems so long ago, when Sophie was just a tiny girl.  

Frequently the one to hurt herself in her absentmindedness, one afternoon she tripped and fell, and proceeded to break into the loudest of tears.  Despite her pleas to fix the cut or the bruise, all I could do was get down on my hands and knees and hug her close.   

The tighter I squeezed the quieter the tears became.

Heavenly father, remind us that prayer is like that. With simplicity of heart we open ourselves up to you. We allow ourselves to be gathered up into your arms and let you make the tears go away. Help us to learn to let go of ourselves and learn to trust in you. Help us learn how to WAIT in the gracious grip of you, our heavenly father.

We give our thanks for the many simple ways you have shown your love to us.    We thank you for the flowers that poke through our gardens, and the laughter of children.    We thank you for the cool spring breezes and moments of laziness.  We give thanks for the smell of freshly cut grass after a long winter.  

Help us to not rush past these things.   Help us to slow down and enjoy them.

We give our thanks for those things that have changed our lives for the better.   We thank you for the love of friends, family, and children.    We thank you for the gift of the church and all her ministries.    We thank you for the family that is born through the bonds shared within our sanctuaries.

We also raise our prayers for the hurts and the challenges in our lives and for our family members and neighbors who struggle with the stresses and challenges of life, and turn the wrong way, in hopes of finding a way out.   We pray for those whom we love, who through age, accident or sickness are seeing their bodies fail them.    

Let us turn everything we have…both the good and the bad back to you.   Help us to see your willingness to carry our burdens and to ease our pain.   Help us to see the moments of joy as reminders of who you are.    Let everything we have and all that we are be committed to showing your Glory.   Let us be reminded to live a life of those called apart.  

May our word and our action be our testimony to one another, our families, and this community.

All these prayers are the cries of our heart, given up to a Lord who listens and a Lord who responds.   In your name, and with hearts that patiently await your answer; we pray.  

Amen.

(Pic: Drety, Flickr.com, CCL 2012)