Contentment Prayer (Lisa)

A prayer to help us empty our hands of what was and embrace what could be as we transition to a new chapter in life. It is a prayer in the promise of peace to come.

Lord, change is so hard. It is painful letting go of earthly things, that hold memories of a lifelong love and joy, like stamps of recognition, of all that has come before. It is difficult leaving a home that feels like a 3-D story, fully fleshed out, of our life when we were younger, limber and carefree, when we focused on the joyful living in the here and now instead of the letting go.

It is so hard to let go of treasures only we cherish, or at least, only we can cherish fully. We wish to pass on the important history of each cloth and cup, each stick of furniture. We hand it over but our backs are heavy with the weight of its release. So many letting gos to accomplish in this life but You have given us a promise of a peace that is to come, this overwhelmingly heady contentment that is there for us to hold when our hands are empty and our hearts are open to You.

Lord help us get to that place of contentment right now, not when we are gone from this earthly life and in your arms, but now. Let us know that calm peaceful breath, that soft full smile with eyes closed, that ahhhhhh!…. all is well with the world feeling now.

It is in our power. You blessed us with the gift of contentment since the moment you created us. We just forgot, leaving it at the bottom of that treasure trunk you placed within us, that soft and yet powerful gift of contentment. We just need to pick it up again and play with it. Contentment.

Help us hold our contentment close to us, wrapping it around us like that baby blanket we were once swaddled in. May we enjoy its peaceful pleasures today and when we wake up tomorrow, feel this same serenity again and again. No matter what we lose or gain, no matter what falls from our hands, help us Lord to know the greater fullness of contentment. When painful hard things sit at our left, may we look to our right and find Your great gift of contentment just waiting for us to pick up once again.

Dear Lord

Empty my hands

unfurl my cramped fingers

straighten my back from the weight of all I carry.

Take it from me, Lord.

Empty my mind of mental anguish

help me trust in the love of my family

empty my heart of all wistful thoughts

prepare me like as an empty vessel

then pour it on in, Lord

contentment

serenity

peace

ahhhhhh!

It is within my grasp

I just can’t reach it with my arms so full.

Empty me, Lord.

Amen.