Prayer of Adoration and Confession: Ask, Seek, Knock

Here’s a thoughtful prayer inspired by Luke 11: 1-13, where Jesus’ teaches the disciples about prayer.  It was written by Anita Monro.

A Prayer of Adoration and Confession

(inspired by Matthew 7: 7-11, Luke 11: 1-13)

Seeking One,

you are the beginning and the end of our search.
Finding One,

you are the alpha and omega of all discovery.
Asking One,

you are the voice and the silence of our exploration.
Giving One,

you are the fullness and the emptiness of all yearning.
Persistent One,

you never abandon your search for us,
nor tire of our repetitive to-ings and fro-ings.
Receiving One,

you endlessly welcome us home,
and spread before us a feast
in the face of our constant requests for mere morsels of bread.

Search us, O God,

and find within us the secrets we hide.
Ask us, O God,

and receive from within us the pain we bear.
Keep knocking at the door of our lives
until we open our wills to your purpose,
our lives to your life, and our yearning to your hope.

When we forget to seek you and discover that we have lost our place:
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

When we ask once and leave it at that:
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.

When we draw back from knocking, lest we disturb you:
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Strengthen our courage; bolster our endurance;
spur us onward in your way in our world
through the power of the Holy Spirit
and the name of Christ.
Amen.

~ written by Anita Monro and posted on the MAD-e-Lena blog. http://mad-e-lena.blogspot.com/