Jesus,
You are our hope.
There is no one like you. There is no other God. No other Savior. There is none besides you. We give you all the glory, honor, and praise. We declare with the heavenly hosts that you are “Holy. Holy. Holy.” We are in awe of you. We delight in your ways, perfect in Love, full of mercy and grace, always on time, and exactly what we need.
We come to You, dependent, as your beloved friends. As we consider Your compassionate ways, we are humbled and brought low. How many times have we relied on our own grit or false hopes to meet our needs? How many times, in pursuing our ideas and plans, have we pulled away from You? How many times have we run ahead, trying to force something, burning ourselves out in the process?
And yet, rather than giving us the justice or consequences we earned, you gave us an invitation. Rather than shaming us or turning your back on us, you drew close. You gave us rest and healing. You care for us, tending to the deepest wounds of our hearts. You provide a different way forward, gentle and full of peace. You sustain us with living water while pruning the dead branches and malformed fruit that we allowed to grow in our lives. You provide us with a community garden to be planted in, so we might share in the nourishment and care of one another as we are healed.
But healed, for what purpose? To bear fruit that falls to the ground and rots because it was never shared? No. You have cultivated us so that we might share the fruit of your labors in us, the very fruit of your Spirit for this world. So we posture ourselves with open hearts and renewed minds, so that you might work in and through us for your glory. Jesus, we want our neighbors near and far to know the kind of love that you have given us. So we come now before you to pray for those who come to mind.
Guide us in the quiet.
Amen.