Forgive Our Nearsightedness

Constant Father,

We come to you discouraged and downcast.
     We come dragging our feet, for we prefer instant gratification.
      Yet, we come hastily, for you alone are our God.

We admit:
      the success of our days determines our hope,
      the money in our accounts determines our riches, and,
      the people we know and connections we make determine our power.

We have heard:
      the hungry are to be considered blessed,
      the poor in spirit are actually rich, and,
      the mourners are the ones who will be comforted.

          Yet if we are honest, we are skeptical (at best) of living by paradox.
      
We are desperate for you to enlighten us.
      Enlighten the eyes of our hearts,
            that we might know the hope of our calling in Christ,
            that we might know what are the riches of your glorious inheritance, and,
            that we might know the surpassing greatness of your power toward us who believe. 

May these determine our hope, and our riches, and our sense of power.

Holy Spirit, calm our cynical thoughts, and speak to our defeat.
Be present in our worry pertaining to our immediate circumstances,
      and teach us to invite you into them.
We admit the often pettiness of these circumstances,
      yet praise you for caring about anything and everything that pains us.
Teach us not to be immune to this pain, 
      but to walk more closely with you in its midst. 

Enlighten us, 
    that we may know the hope, riches, and power that Christ has purchased for us to know.
Forgive our nearsightedness, and teach us to give thanks.

We ask these things in dependence upon you,
    not dependence we have mustered, 
    but dependence you have supplied.

Amen.


Ephesians 1:15-23

¹⁵ For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, ¹⁶ I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. ¹⁷ I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit^[a] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. ¹⁸ I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, ¹⁹ and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength ²⁰ he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹ far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ²² And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Teach Us to Cry Out Abba, Father

Our Father,

Humbled by your holiness we approach your throne of grace.

We admit that we are self-righteous.

    We have tried to add our merit to what Christ has done,

    and we have preyed on the moral failure of others.

We admit that we tend to self-loathe.

    We have dismissed what Christ has blessed us with,

    and wallow in our shortcomings.

Spirit, show our hearts that in both circumstances we reject the gospel.

Teach us not to count more on self to be right with you,

   but to rest in that Jesus has made us right with you.

Teach us not to punish ourselves in order to feel better,

   but to accept the grace which you freely give. 

Teach us not to fear that you will be bothered by our need of you,

   but that self giving is your joy and delight.

Hallelujah, we are your children.

Teach us to cry out "Abba Father" more desperately, and more often.

We thank you for Jesus, who taught us to pray this way. 

In his name we ask, and even plead for these things,

Amen.