Ok God,
You know that sometimes,
Ok let’s be honest,
All too often,
My hands are outstretched!
Not because I’m throwing my hands up in praise
but rather
because they feel WAY too empty.
And I can’t find a way to help–
So I pray.
So here I am Sweet Jesus,
In the middle of a veritable plague,
on the edge of what could be World War 3,
while dictators invade innocent nations,
while families are treatened to be ripped apart
for supporting and loving and affirming
your God imaged trans and lesbian and gay and nonbinary children
and black and brown people are still killed without warrant or warrants
and books are being banned and burned
and gun violence is up everywhere
and home prices are through the roof–
Is this how it felt Jesus, when you were born
in the middle of occupied Jerusalem
Is this how the disciples felt
when they asked you the same questions
over and over (and over) again.
Did you have compassion for them,
because you knew their questions were a form of prayer?
God why is this happening?
How do we stop it?
Why do we fall into these patterns of evil again and again.
Hosanna! Save us! Help us!
God, as we enter this lonely time time of Lent,
Help me to walk with you, I pray.
because, God knows,
You know,
I at least don’t want to walk it alone.
And so here I am,
with an empty handed prayer,
knowing that I’m asking for something to do
and what you ask will not be easy…
but I choose to pray anyway,
Because I don’t want to be empty handed anymore!
Lord hear my prayer,
Amen.
Amen.
Feel free to share/adapt/use with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta
With thanks to @Thomaslhorrocks for the inspirational tweet
katyandtheword 