I
hope you have been remembering to pray this prayer at least once every day. It
is simple, yet, so profound. What insights, what aha moments, have you
experienced as you have prayed? Has it been an easy prayer to pray? Has it
gotten easier or more difficult to pray with the passing of days? Are there parts of you that love praying this
prayer and parts that want to run from it as fast as you can?
This
prayer, I think, opens Jesus’ invitation for us to “pick up our cross and
follow” and helps us to see this invitation from a variety of angles. Giving
ourselves completely to God is a daily journey that requires courage and
vigilance. Like Peter we can tune ourselves fully to God in one moment and
completely stick our fingers in our ears in the next. In one moment we can rest
fully leaning on God’s love and grace and in the next want to trust only in
ourselves and the wisdom of the world.
In many ways, we are like Peter.
I
invite you to pray this prayer several times today. Stop and reflect on each
verse. Stop and prayerfully ask what God might want you to hear from each of
these words as you move about today?
I give myself
completely to you, God.
Assign me to my
place in your creation.
Let me suffer
for you.
Give me the work
you would have me do.
Give me many
tasks or have me step aside
while you call
others.
Put me forward or
humble me.
Give me riches
or let me live in poverty.
I freely give
all that I am and all that I
have to you.
And now, holy
God, Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit, you
are mine and I am yours
So be it.
May this
covenant made on earth
continue for all
eternity.
Amen.
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