Praying the Greatest Commandment

 “Of all the commandments, which is the most important one?” (Mark 12:28)

A Daily Prayer of Dedication

Good morning, God.

Today I will love you with all my heart 

   and with all my soul 

      and with all my mind 

         and with all my strength – 

not just because you have commanded me to do so,

   but also because that is the desire of my heart.

I will love you with my whole being

   because you have first loved me

      unconditionally,

      everlastingly,

      passionately,

      uniquely.

I will love you with my whole being

   because you have loved me with your whole being,

      emptying yourself of the privileges of deity

      and becoming a servant

      and offering yourself as a sacrifice for my sins.

I will love you with my whole being

   because apart from you there is no life – 

for you alone are

   the way

      and the truth

         and the life.

And so, good and loving God – 

   gracious and compassionate,

   abounding in steadfast love – 

I will love you with my whole being today.

For if I do not love you with all my heart

   and with all my soul

      and with all my mind

         and with all my strength,

then I will not truly live today the abundant life

   that you offer to me.

If I do not love you with my whole being, 

   the flowers will be less brilliant,

   the mountains will be less majestic,

   the ocean will be less impressive,

   the song of the birds will be less melodious,

   the sun will shine less brightly.

If I do not love you with my whole being today,

   then my life today will be diminished.

If I do not love you with my whole being, O Lord,

   my love for my family and

   my love for my friends and

   my love for my neighbor

      will fall short of love’s potential.

Today I will love you with all my heart

   and with all my soul

      and with all my mind

         and with all my strength,

for only then will all other things

   find their fulfillment.

And only then can I be truly alive.

Amen.

Gratitude for a Renewed Heart

I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
    With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
    my body also will rest secure,
because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
    nor will you let your faithful one see decay.

(Psalm 16:8-10)

I praise you, good and loving Lord,

for the ways that you have filled my heart

during these forty days.

Your presence has

  strengthened me,

  comforted me,

  encouraged me,

  filled me with hope,

  convicted me of my sin 

          (and that’s not a bad thing),

  inspired compassion, mercy, and grace within me.

  given me peace.

Oh, that wonderful peace that only you can give!

And in this past week, as my heart has

meditated on your passion,

I am humbled by the magnitude of your love.

"Love so amazing, so divine,

demands my life, my soul, my all!"

I thank you for these forty days of Lent.

I have needed them.

But then again, you knew that long before Lent began.

Sometime last year, you began to whisper to me,

"My child, you need prayer. 

You need to open your heart to Me."

I offer this prayer in the shadow of the cross.

I have left the tomb, with you wrapped in burial cloths.

I know how this ends, so I cannot spend my Saturday 

in mourning and fear.

I know that Sunday is coming.

I know that death cannot hold you in the tomb.

And because death did not hold you in the tomb,

then I also know that death will not hold me there, either.

For you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,

     nor will you let your faithful one see decay.

Over these forty days

you have shown me once again

that you are God,

  and that you are gracious and compassionate,

  and that you are forgiving,

  and that you are always with me,

  and that your blessings are more than I can count,

  and that though I cannot know the future,

        I can know you.

And that is enough.

That will always be enough.

You, Lord, will always be enough.

I love you, Lord. I really do.

My heart is glad, my tongue rejoices,

and my body will rest secure,

in You.

Amen.

I Love You, Lord

I love you, Lord, my strength.

(Psalm 18:1)

"I love you, Lord."

I speak those words from my heart, O God.

When I awaken, and when I sleep,

and every hour in between,

I love you.

I love you, Lord,

because you have first loved me.

You have loved me faithfully,

  and unconditionally,

  and lavishly,

  and graciously,

  and eternally.

You, Lord – 

  who have given me life, abundant life;

  who have walked with me through trials;

  who have delivered me from trouble;

  who have blessed me with family;

  who have provided for me;

  who have been with me always – 

you, Lord, I love.

I love you, Lord,

because you have first loved me.

You gave your Son

to me

and to the whole world.

In him you have given me

eternal life.

I love you, Lord,

and to you I give my life.

"Take my life, and let it be 

consecrated, Lord, to thee."

Take me, use me, I pray.

Make me an instrument of your

  healing,

    grace,

      mercy,

        justice,

          steadfast love,

        compassion,

      comfort,

    hope,

  peace.

I love you, Lord, my strength.

Amen.

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

Praise Is Always Appropriate

We praise you, God, 

     we praise you, for your Name is near; 

     people tell of your wonderful deeds.

(Psalm 75:1)

It is good and right, O Lord,

that praise should flow from our hearts

and over our lips

every day.

For you are good beyond measure,

your blessings falling upon us faster than we can count.

Praise is not reserved

only for those times when life is good;

for even in times of trouble,

your goodness far exceeds our trials.

We awoke this day with the rising of the sun – 

   which, by the way, is amazing to witness,

   a gift you paint for us every day on the horizon.

And you have breathed into us the breath of life,

and given us this day – 

   also, as a beautiful gift.

Indeed, there is beauty everywhere;

open our eyes, that we may behold your goodness.

We praise you, O God,

     we praise you, for your Name is near.

There may be fearful things in our lives:

    sickness

            economic cHaos

      jobs put on p-a-u-s-e

  more sickness (it is a pandemic, after all)

     social ------ distancing

isolation

loneliness

But your love casts out fear.

In our distancing, our isolation, our loneliness,

you have come near,

to dwell with us.

In your Presence there is peace.

We praise you, O God,

     we praise you, for your Name is near;

     people tell of your wonderful deeds.

Let it be said of us, O God,

that we are among those 

who tell of your wonderful deeds.

For our world can use good news today.

As we experience your goodness,

open our mouths to sing your praise;

and inspire us in the depths of our hearts

to show your grace and compassion and mercy,

so that even more people

will tell of your wonderful deeds.

We praise you, O God, we praise you.

Amen.

During the season of Lent, I am "Praying with David," using prayers found in the psalms as inspiration for personal prayers.

To You, O Lord, I Give Myself in Gratitude Today

I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; 

     I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. 

I will be glad and rejoice in you; 

     I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High. 

(Psalm 9:1-2)

At the beginning of the day, O Lord, 

I am determined to live with gratitude. 

Nothing has happened yet, 

except that I have awakened and risen with the sun. 

But I know that the day will be filled 

with blessings from you – 

because you’re that kind of God: 

gracious and compassionate, full of steadfast love.

Open my eyes, Lord, 

  to see your goodness all around me.

Open my heart, Lord, 

  to embrace the beauty and 

  grace which you shower upon me.

Open my mind, Lord, 

  to know that every moment is a gift from you, 

  and that every person I encounter 

  is one of your precious children.

But why should I speak in the future tense: 

“I will give thanks to you with all my heart,”? 

Indeed, even now I give you thanks. 

Even now, before another moment passes, 

I praise your name, and I rejoice in you.

Because I love you, 

and I know that whatever happens today, 

in the midst of it all I will experience your goodness.

To you, O Lord, I give myself in gratitude today.

Amen.

During the season of Lent, I am "Praying with David," using prayers found in the psalms as inspiration for personal prayers.

Teach Me to Look Back, Lord

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

     surely I have a delightful inheritance.

(Psalm 16:6)

Teach me to look backwards, O Lord.

Teach me to look back at my life 

as I have lived it thus far.

I don’t want to relive the “good old days;”

I’m not looking for a “do-over”

for the mistakes I have made;

I don’t long for happier times.

That’s not why I want for you to

teach me to look backwards, O God.

Teach me to look backwards,

so I can see how you have blessed me;

teach me to look backwards,

so I can see your providential hand

upon all my days.

If I look back at my life, O God,

surely I will see that 

the boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.

If I look back at my life, O God,

surely I will see your love in more abundance

than I ever realized.

Hindsight is twenty-twenty, or so they say.

Give me eyes to see

how you have blessed me beyond measure,

and how you have brought me to today.

Teach me to look backwards, O God,

so I can live today with gratitude,

and so I may have hope for tomorrow

and all the tomorrows thereafter.

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

surely I have a delightful inheritance.

Teach me to look backwards, O God,

that I may praise you all of my days.

Through Christ, my Lord. Amen.

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