Hear our Prayer

10May
Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer, 
and attend to the voice of my supplications. 
In the time of my trouble I will call upon you, 
for you will answer me. 
Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord, 
nor anything like your works. 
- From Psalm 86



I strive for a posture of gratitude in everyday living and in my prayer life. Though I fall short many (perhaps most – gasp) days, the ones on which I nail it are glorious. On others, I think I try for a shortcut, asking for something specific, perhaps in an attempt to deflect my own responsibility to fix or understand a problem. Between entreaty and gratitude, a good middle ground for me is “thy will be done.” 

 

During the silent retreat, led by Father John Pitzer at the conference center in February, we were given questions to ponder while engaging in quiet solitude. One of the questions which captured my attention was, “Have you asked for something in your spiritual life that did not come about? If so…why do you think that which you asked for did not take place. What can you learn from this?” What came up for me was something I heard many years ago – perhaps it is a cliché even, though I have found it a satisfying explanation – that God always answers our prayers and sometimes that answer is no.  

 

It feels to me that, at those times, I am called or led to a place more congruent with God’s plan for my life even if I see it only in hindsight. I know, at my core and with absolute certainty, that there have been times I was lifted from my course and set in motion on another altogether – these were absolute pivots, not of my own planning. It has come with a “how did this come about?” followed closely by a realization that I have been shown a sign of God’s favor, as requested in the psalm. 

 

In my experience, affirmation does not always, or even usually, come in the simple way I might hope for – the “voice of my supplications” appears sometimes to fall on deaf ears - but along the circuitous pathways in the life I have been gifted are the signs of a gracious God at work in a life of divine design.  


Musical Reflection - Oh Lord Hear my Prayer - Taize



Almighty God, who has promised to hear the petitions of those who ask in your Son's Name: We beseech you mercifully to incline thine ear to us who have now made our prayers and supplications unto thee; and grant that those things which we have faithfully asked according to thy will, may effectually be obtained, to the relief of our necessity, and to the setting forth of thy glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer

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