A Prayer of Waiting

You, Oh Lord, have given us the responsibility of managing your creation.  In this we take great delight.  However, because of The Fall, people and events do not always cooperate with our schedule, with our belief about “how things should go.”  So in this spirit we pray:

When we have no specific “leading” help us carry on with our present concerns;
When we have no definitive “direction” help us to be patient, even though that is hard;
When we have doubts and fears give our minds rest;
When we encounter questions and problems give our minds clarity.

When we think that no answer is not a good answer may we not press for an answer;
When our daily tasks are overwhelming so that it is hard to think about the future, grant
us space and a place of respite for reflection;
When there are many voices speaking to us, may we hear Yours;
When we have come to the end of what we know to do, may we practice Providence.

Oh Lord, we are feeble, frail, finite, and fallen.We want to honor you in the way that we go but we do not always understand or even know Your ways.
Have mercy on us, knowing this about us, that we are but dust.
While you have crowned us with glory and honor, honor us with a brief glimpse of what
we are to do.
Though you may expect the fortitude of Anna or the longsuffering of Simeon in their
anticipation of seeing Messiah in flesh, have pity on us in our day today.

During Mark’s dark days of joblessness 5 February 2008.