Seek His Face -- Here, There, and Everywhere

Hear my voice when I call, Lord;
    be merciful to me and answer me.
My heart says of you, “Seek his face!”
    Your face, Lord, I will seek.

(Psalm 27:7-8)

In the morning,

in the evening,

all throughout the day, O God,

I seek you.

Hear my voice when I call, Lord.

“My heart says of you, ‘Seek his face!’

     Your face, Lord, I will seek.”

Your face, Lord, I will seek,

for I know that when I seek you,

I will find you.

And when I find you,

I know that I will find

   compassion for my pain,

   mercy for my plight,

   forgiveness for my sins,

   peace for my fears,

   strength to face the day.

Your face, Lord I will seek,

so that I may 

   love you,

   worship you,

   obey you,

   serve you,

   glorify you.

And because I know 

that all my encounters with others 

are also encounters with you

(for as I have done so to the least of these,

so also I have done to you…),

then I will also seek your face

in everyone I encounter today:

Your face, Lord, will I seek in the poor.

Your face, Lord, will I seek in the anxious ones.

Your face, Lord, will I seek in the stranger on the street.

Your face, Lord, will I seek in the children riding their bikes.

Your face, Lord, will I seek in the laid-off worker.

Your face, Lord, will I seek in the the business owner 

          who just shut down.

Your face, Lord, will I seek in the truck driver 

          delivering crucial medical supplies… and TP

Your face, Lord, will I seek in the exhausted doctors and nurses.

I seek your face in them, 

that I might love them as your children.

For so you have sought me

and loved me.

Your face, Lord, I will seek,

so that I may love you

as you have loved me.

Amen.

During the season of Lent, I am “Praying with David,” using prayers from the psalms as inspiration for personal prayers.