Sunday Prayer May 19, 2024

Renewing God,

You sent your Holy Spirit to inspire and to bring new life and it all sounds well and good, but it kills me. It can be so hard. You declare to me that I shall live, that my dry bones will come to life. Your spirit of truth is my guide. I know it’s your Holy Spirit. I know it is. But when my brain takes over, it screams “Dying every day?! Seriously!? I mean, multiple times?” See what happens when my brain is in charge? It’s hard, especially when I resist it. And I’m good at pretending I have it all under control.

So with a trembling heart, I pray for your Holy Spirit to stir me up. Can you help me? Can you occupy my brain? Get me out of my own limited thinking? Help me to drop the pretending so I am ready to sigh and groan in response to devastating news. And to know your Spirit is there, even in the midst of tragedy too awful to utter a single word. Especially there. You have filled me with your Spirit to sigh deeply and to groan with those who suffer. It’s how you intervene so I’ll stop thinking I have to say something, you know, meaningful in the moment. Your Spirit is what brings life. Your Spirit is love within me. So help me die a little every day so I can get closer to you, God. Amen.

Take a deep breath, dear deacon, dear pastor, dear chaplain. For your labor in the Lord is not in vain.