Help me to pray, Lord,
for I don’t know how to pray as I
ought…
ought…
I try to « make time » for
prayer –
prayer –
forgetting that few things in my life
are more important
are more important
than spending time each day in prayer,
just talking, chatting with you…
I « try to make time » for prayer
but you’re always there,
but you’re always there,
ready to meet me in
prayer,
prayer,
never too busy to sit down to listen
to me
to me
and hear me out…
But sometimes, Lord,
I worry about prayer…
I worry bout what to say when I pray.
I forget that you’re always ready
to pick up our conversation right where we left off
even if I’ve forgotten what we talked about
I forget that you’re always ready
to pick up our conversation right where we left off
even if I’ve forgotten what we talked about
the last time we spoke
or when it was we did…
But even when I worry
about how to pray or what to say
– you’re totally happy
– you’re totally happy
just because I’ve come to pray again!
I complicate my prayer when I worry
about what to say and how to say it
as if you might ever turn down my prayer
because I stumbled in finding the « right” words
as if you might ever turn down my prayer
because I stumbled in finding the « right” words
– or found no words at all –
in spite of all my heart desired to speak…
You’re pleased with my prayer, Lord,
You’re pleased with my prayer, Lord,
you’re always pleased with my prayer;
even when I can’t find words to pray
you’re pleased, always pleased
you’re pleased, always pleased
with the prayer of my presence…
I so often and so easily forget
that you understand me completely,
that you hear my prayer, Lord,
in the flow of my tears,
the groans of my pain,
the shivers of my fears,
the silence of my sorrow
and in the peaceful sigh
of finding myself again in your
presence…
presence…
My prayer needs no special words, Lord:
you’re always pleased to listen
you’re always pleased to listen
when I « make it up as I go along, »
when my words come not from a book
when my words come not from a book
or some memorized texts
– but simply from my heart…
Remind me, Lord, that beginning to pray is simple:
I need only sit in silence
and speak your name…
Help me remember, Lord,
it’s always you who call me to prayer
– even when I think it’s all my idea…
I know that you know
what’s on my mind and in my heart
long before I ever even think to pray:
but oh, how you love it
when I share with you
what you’ve known of me
from before all time began…
Your love for me is simple, Lord:
you’re always waiting for me
even when I haven’t prayed in ages;
you welcome me warmly,
even when I’ve strayed from your Word;
you look me in the eye
when I fear looking back into yours;
you open wide your arms to me
even, especially, when I’ve been
unfaithful to you;
unfaithful to you;
you’re there for me, always,
even when I’ve ignored you
even when I’ve ignored you
or turned away from your face…
I don’t need a saint’s words and wisdom
to come to you in prayer, Lord,
I need only:
to thank you for my blessings
praise you for your glory,
ask pardon for my sins,
seek your help in all my troubles
and beg the grace to be more faithful today
than I was the day before…
Remind me that coming to you in prayer
is like meeting up with an
good friend,
who loves me and accepts me as I am…
good friend,
who loves me and accepts me as I am…
Prayer, Lord, is a homecoming
where the door is always open
and I am always welcome to come in…
Help me to pray, Lord,
for I don’t know how to pray as I
ought…
ought…
