Seek first the Kingdom of God, and all these other things……….

Prayer – Seek ye
first the Kingdom of God

 

 

 

Lord,
the life we live is too full;

Too
full of expectations, our own and other people’s

Too
full of demands, the ones we make and the one’s we meet

Too
full of responsibilities, to others, and for others

We get
used to being reviewed and appraised, developed and trained

As if
our value was indexed to how well we function

 

Lord
help us to be still in your presence

Just
to stop, to be, and to like who we are.

Teach
us to cherish silence,

to
distinguish between loneliness and solitude

to be
at ease with the life you have given

and
with you the Giver of Life.

Give
us the sense to seek first your Kingdom :   
 

 

*********************

 

Lord
you have made us human, our bodies instruments of life and sense

We are
sentient, sensitive, sensory – but our life of sense is overloaded

Too
full of loud noise and fast movement.

Instant,
efficient, fast, – the core requirements of a consumer culture.

Now,
immediately, no waiting, – we can have what we want, –

Because
credit cards collapse time, but credit too collapses..

Our
eyes too full of things to touch, and purchase, and possess

As if
life could ever consist in the abundance of things.

Even
taste and smell have become addictive

As our
society eats its way to un-wellness;

So now
the delicious and the aromatic, have become dangerous and tempting,

And
food a threatened epidemic rather than a daily blessing.

 

Lord
you are the one who heals and nourishes the hungry soul,

Who
cures our addiction to self, to things;

Teach
us again what it is we live by.

Remind
us that having you we need no more,

and
lacking you nothing else matters much.   

 

**********************

Lord,
our lives are full, busy, hyper-active,

Driven
by our purposes rather than lived to yours,

And so
we have become self-important, self-propelled,

The
indispensable player in our own lives.

 

Lord,
bring us to our senses,

And to
a proper sense of life’s proportion, balance, intention.

Our
chief end is to glorify you, and to enjoy you forever.

Grant
us the joy that comes from trusting in you.

Give
us wisdom to ask, patience to seek, and joy in the finding

Of you
love in Jesus Christ your Son.