When I am invited to pray with non-churched people I usually start my prayers "we stop".., It may not seem the most 'religious way' to start praying but I believe it actually does capture what people are looking for in prayer... a chance to stop in the midst of what ever is going on... joyful celebration... the fun and friendship round a meal... the demands of stressful situations or the perfect storm of sickness and tragedy. To stop and to focus on something beyond. Then I'll try and capture whats going on and draw it up before God.
This week as I'm preaching on Martha and Mary having Jesus over for dinner I was caught offguard by the fact that we can be caught up in the so many things that just need to be done, General Eisenhower's 'tyrrany of the urgent" that we can forget to stop and focus on God, to take the best portion of simply sitting at Jesus feet and listening to what he has to say... even our quite times can become a race to get them done and out of the way, ticked off 'the to do list'. So I just felt to pick all that up and use it for a prayer of thanksgiving and confession... and even in the midst of a corporate prayer to remind myself and the congregation to stop... and be still and know that God is God... To stop and simply sit at the feet of God... to stop and wait on him... to stop and simply worship and enjoy his presence (the first question in the shorter Westminster catechism is what is the chief end of man and the answer is to know God and enjoy him always...).
In the midst
of the hustle and bustle of everyday
The push and
grind of incessant demand and routine
Amidst the tidal
ebbs and flows of life’s long journey
Good times of
plenty and tough times of seeming nought
As storm
front after storm front passes over
And in-between,
the short lived, calm blue sky respite
We stop and
we acknowledge that you are God
From the
over flowing deluge of our to do lists
The pull of
the important and the tyranny of the urgent
From the
demanding approach of deadlines
The catch up
on and the long put off catching up with
Through times
of just wanting to unwind and sleep
And amidst
the rush to fill every moment of our limited leisure time
We stop; we
come to your feet and listen to what you have to say
You invite
us to be still and to know you are God
You call us
to find our hope and strength in who you are
Through your
Son you invite us back to intimate closeness and knowing
By your
spirit you make it a reality as you dwell with and within us
You give
peace that the world cannot take away
Joy that transcends
circumstance and sorrow
WE stop to
know and enjoy you and give you praise
We confess
we have got distracted by ‘all these tasks’
We acknowledge
we are worried about these ‘so many things’
We have lost
sight of the few that really matter
We have lost
focus on the only one that brings life
We have done
so many things that are wrong
And left
undone the things that are good and right
We stop and
say forgive us Lord and wait on your forgiveness
You are
righteous and just and as we confess our sin you forgive us
You take
away the sin and remove even its stain on our soul
AS we stop
today to focus on you meet with us again
Fill us afresh
with your spirits presence and power
Centre us on
Christ, allow us to listen and hear what he has to say to us
From that to
see the life and joy of Christ well up and over flow
We stop, and
we worship you O God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit
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