Prayer Thread - Contriteness and the Need to be Forgiven

Lord,
forgive us for all the ways
we wrap ourselves in delusion and deceit,
churning the dust until we are lost
in a grey smoke
designed to hide your light
from our every day life.
Forgive us, Lord,
for all the ways we work,
doing everything we can
to hide the truth of your way,
of your path,
of your call.

And yet,
no matter how much we call evil good
and glory in death over life,
nothing we can do
can eradicate
your footsteps glowing in the dust,
your smile in the face of a child,
your eyes in the look of the needy,
you voice whispering in our hearts.

O Lord,
you who are there
when we trip in our hubris
and taste the dust of our own self-delusion,
you who are love and mercy
even though we deserve the dark waters of death,
you who reach out
even when all others turn their backs,
lead us ever to your light,
and may we in the end,
rest, at home,
in the hand of your love.

O LORD, rebuke me not in thy anger,
nor chasten me in thy wrath.
Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing;
O LORD, heal me, for my bones are troubled.
My soul also is sorely troubled.

But thou, O LORD -- how long?
Turn, O LORD, save my life;
deliver me for the sake of thy steadfast love.
For in death there is no remembrance of thee;
in Sheol who can give thee praise?
I am weary with my moaning;
every night I flood my bed with tears;
I drench my couch with my weeping.
My eye wastes away because of grief,
it grows weak because of all my foes.

Ps.102

[0] A prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the LORD.

[1] Hear my prayer, O LORD;
let my cry come to thee!
[2] Do not hide thy face from me
in the day of my distress!
Incline thy ear to me;
answer me speedily in the day when I call!
[3] For my days pass away like smoke,
and my bones burn like a furnace.
[4] My heart is smitten like grass, and withered;
I forget to eat my bread.
[5] Because of my loud groaning
my bones cleave to my flesh.
[6] I am like a vulture of the wilderness,
like an owl of the waste places;
[7] I lie awake,
I am like a lonely bird on the housetop.
[8] All the day my enemies taunt me,
those who deride me use my name for a curse.
[9] For I eat ashes like bread,
and mingle tears with my drink,
[10] because of thy indignation and anger;
for thou hast taken me up and thrown me away.
[11] My days are like an evening shadow;
I wither away like grass.
[12] But thou, O LORD, art enthroned for ever;
thy name endures to all generations.
[13] Thou wilt arise and have pity on Zion;
it is the time to favor her;
the appointed time has come.
[14] For thy servants hold her stones dear,
and have pity on her dust.
[15] The nations will fear the name of the LORD,
and all the kings of the earth thy glory.
[16] For the LORD will build up Zion,
he will appear in his glory;
[17] he will regard the prayer of the destitute,
and will not despise their supplication.
[18] Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
so that a people yet unborn may praise the LORD:
[19] that he looked down from his holy height,
from heaven the LORD looked at the earth,
[20] to hear the groans of the prisoners,
to set free those who were doomed to die;
[21] that men may declare in Zion the name of the LORD,
and in Jerusalem his praise,
[22] when peoples gather together,
and kingdoms, to worship the LORD.
[23] He has broken my strength in mid-course;
he has shortened my days.
[24] "O my God," I say, "take me not hence
in the midst of my days,
thou whose years endure
throughout all generations!"
[25] Of old thou didst lay the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of thy hands.
[26] They will perish, but thou dost endure;
they will all wear out like a garment.
Thou changest them like raiment, and they pass away;
[27] but thou art the same, and thy years have no end.
[28] The children of thy servants shall dwell secure;
their posterity shall be established before thee.Ps.102
[0] A prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint
before the LORD.
[1] Hear my prayer, O LORD;
let my cry come to thee!
[2] Do not hide thy face from me
in the day of my distress!
Incline thy ear to me;
answer me speedily in the day when I call!
[3] For my days pass away like smoke,
and my bones burn like a furnace.
[4] My heart is smitten like grass, and withered;
I forget to eat my bread.
[5] Because of my loud groaning
my bones cleave to my flesh.
[6] I am like a vulture of the wilderness,
like an owl of the waste places;
[7] I lie awake,
I am like a lonely bird on the housetop.
[8] All the day my enemies taunt me,
those who deride me use my name for a curse.
[9] For I eat ashes like bread,
and mingle tears with my drink,
[10] because of thy indignation and anger;
for thou hast taken me up and thrown me away.
[11] My days are like an evening shadow;
I wither away like grass.
[12] But thou, O LORD, art enthroned for ever;
thy name endures to all generations.
[13] Thou wilt arise and have pity on Zion;
it is the time to favor her;
the appointed time has come.
[14] For thy servants hold her stones dear,
and have pity on her dust.
[15] The nations will fear the name of the LORD,
and all the kings of the earth thy glory.
[16] For the LORD will build up Zion,
he will appear in his glory;
[17] he will regard the prayer of the destitute,
and will not despise their supplication.
[18] Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
so that a people yet unborn may praise the LORD:
[19] that he looked down from his holy height,
from heaven the LORD looked at the earth,
[20] to hear the groans of the prisoners,
to set free those who were doomed to die;
[21] that men may declare in Zion the name of the LORD,
and in Jerusalem his praise,
[22] when peoples gather together,
and kingdoms, to worship the LORD.
[23] He has broken my strength in mid-course;
he has shortened my days.
[24] "O my God," I say, "take me not hence
in the midst of my days,
thou whose years endure
throughout all generations!"
[25] Of old thou didst lay the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of thy hands.
[26] They will perish, but thou dost endure;
they will all wear out like a garment.
Thou changest them like raiment, and they pass away;
[27] but thou art the same, and thy years have no end.
[28] The children of thy servants shall dwell secure;
their posterity shall be established before thee.

And he said, "There was a man who had two sons; and the younger of them said to his father, `Father, give me the share of property that falls to me.' And he divided his living between them.

Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took his journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in loose living. And when he had spent everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want.

So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have fed on the pods that the swine ate; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, `How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants."'

And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, `Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

But the father said to his servants, `Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.'

Luke 15: 11-24

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