Proverbs Prayers (Proverbs 1:23)

Proverbs 1:23

Prayer: Lord, it hasn’t ceased. This scripture reflection has become first and foremost an exercise in difficult confession to people I love and know love me despite my shortcomings, these women are extensions of your love towards me and I thank You that I can reveal my humanity before them. The difficulty of this exercise hasn’t ceased. Sure, I wish I had this time in the morning to do something else, but that is only because I want to avoid what truths about myself You intend to bring to light that day. Lord, I’m learning but help me fully embrace confession as a demonstration and burden-releasing act of spiritual practice. Help us learn to confess our sins to one another and continue in this life burden-free. God, the burden of our sins are hard to live us, so Lord show how to live without them by trusting each other enough to ask for prayer, help, an ear, whatever we need in order to place the burden rightfully where it deserves to be, on the cross crucified. Jesus didn’t die so that we could resurrect our burdens and carry them to no avail. Only Jesus was resurrected, not our sin. Open our eyes to see this and believe. Lord, many times we don’t believe that we can have a better life. Sometimes we accept this false-fact that we’re doomed to live thinking this way or that way, hating so and so, loving the fact that our words can scar and hurt people. Lord, that’s not “keeping it real”, it is only keeping us away from the holy nature You intend us to thrive in. Forgive me, forgive us, for our unwillingness to shed what we know without a doubt is holding back from living a life that we’re happy with and spiritually nourished from. Lord help us move away from laziness, avoiding doing Your work and will because we’re afraid to do something different or hard. Lord, help us move away from perfectionism where we do too much leaving You behind and moving forward in our plans alone. Lord, You know I act like a split personality as I deeply wrestle with both.

Lord, I list my sin because if I don’t see it, I justify it. It’s my personal practice in honesty. But even if my list is ten bullet points or one hundred pages long, You are patiently waiting for me to live into the realization that Your revealing word is giving me. Thank You for giving us everything we need in Your Holy Spirit, Your word and Your people. Lord, help us learn how to best listen to and be with all three. I’m grinning ear to ear right now because Your grace is amazing. I’m sure You’re smiling right now too; that makes me smile even more because I already know Your grace has forgiven me and is transforming me. Thank You for loving me that much. I hope that one day I can love You a fraction of the way You love me. Thank You Lord for being Love that even on my best days, I can never fully comprehend. I love you so much Lord. It’s in the name of Love so strong that He was willing to take our sins to a cross and die along with them, but come back as a continuation of that undying Love, Jesus the Christ, Amen.