Prayer

Lord Almighty,
Today I intercede for the restless, even as I feel the restlessness inside of me. Like clothes that do not fit, we are uncomfortable outside of your will. Like Adam and Eve, we seek to add to what you have already provided. We cover our lives in fig leaves, hoping no one notices. We cover ourselves in goals. We cover ourselves in titles. We cover ourselves in possessions. We cover ourselves with vices – and none of it fits.
None of it fits when it comes from us. It only fits when it comes from you. Lord, it can be so hard to hear your voice in this loud garden we have found. It can seem so hard to see your guiding hand in this garden that is overrun and overgrown. We have not properly pulled out the weeds and left the fruit. We have not properly watered the soil. We have not properly followed your instructions to enjoy your gifts and stay away from that which we do not need.
And so we find ourselves restless. Searching. Even overwhelmed. You call out to us and we hide. You seek us and we run. We run from embarrassment. We run from shame. But you neither shame nor embarrass us. You seek us to find us. You pull us in to embrace us. You forgive us to love us. May we never forget that we need nothing else. Your all-sufficient, all-embracing, all-consuming love wraps us like new skin, holds us like a mother’s arms, and protects us with a father’s strength. Drawn close to you we hear your heart.
There is no restlessness in you, just a steady, loving heartbeat. A heartbeat that comforts, that soothes, that feels delightfully familiar. A heartbeat that sounds a lot like ours but much more calm, much more peaceful, much more comforting. And as we rest in your arms, Lord, our heartbeat starts to align with yours. The noise is cut out and we are soothed. The overwhelming tasks fall away and we have only one – to be your child. The visual clutter is stripped away as we look straight into your eyes. How could we be restless in your arms?
Lord, let us walk with you. Let us be with you. Let us be soothed by you. When the noise, the sounds, and the clutter overwhelm, draw us in. When we put on clothes that do not fit, show us what you have for us. When we cry out, hear us. And when we lose our way, find us.
Thank you for loving us in spite of our failures and saving us because of our failures.
Hold us close today.
Hold us close in love.
We love you.
Amen.