A Prayer for Perseverance (Lisa)

Dear Lord,

I pray in earnest for my friend and if I may for myself and my family. Please help us to be persistent in loving ourselves and each other in imitation of You. Help us to be determined in our faith in You and in our hope of a lasting healing. My eyes and ears, heart and soul turn to focus on the gift of perseverance. In our darkness, in our own interesting times, help us to see the single light of the advent wreath as reason enough to hold our resolve in You. Fill us with tenacious hope. Lord, help us all to persevere. Amen

When I search in prayer for a perfect image, the sight and sound of a life-long commitment, of perseverance, what comes to me are two images, the first being Your patient, never ending resolve to call me to You, pull me toward Love, no matter what, followed by my constant state of need.

Take me to the river Lord. You’ve walked beside me through some pretty hard times and never ever did you leave me. Even through Claire’s suffering, even in her dying You never left me, in fact, Your presence was felt even more so. You were so good at loving me in this passive way Lord, that sometimes I hardly gave notice to You but I felt things, soft things in life, a gentle love and it pulled me along, calling me back to You.

You have planted in me an overwhelming persistent call, a never-ending voice, a whisper, a yearning to return again and again, even when I don’t feel worth a miracle, even when I don’t want to think about God anymore, even when I am so exhausted and just want an easy answer, especially when I wish for easy answers, You, call me. You never give up. You never surrender me, never abandon me.

At night, when I cannot sleep and my mind darts around in dark places, after twisting and turning and wrestling with my own imaginations, I stumble on a hush white noise in my head. It sounds like Your presence, like the static sound of space expanding, me expanding, of stars and galaxies far, far away. You are electric in me. You are the air surrounding me, the hush sound of my quiet Claire. You are as close as my next breath. How can I escape you Lord? Why would I want to?

Help me be you, Lord. Help me be love persistent in this life, love that shows up and stays forever, love that fills heads too busy and ears too full with the soft hush sound of a peaceful emptiness. Help me engulf others with an unnamed sense of You, without a word, without correction, with just love. Just now, my heart is heavy for someone I love so dearly. Help me Lord… I hear you calling me to love them. A LOT. Be present. Don’t fix. Don’t judge. Don’t push. Just Love. Love, an action word that can be so passively exhausting for me with so many things NOT to do...but help me Lord, to do just that, to love in your quiet unassuming way. Help me be persistent love. Amen