Here are words that David, the writer of many of the Psalms in the Bible, expressed in prayer to God as recorded in Psalm 139:1-4:
You have searched me, Lord, and You know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar .You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue You, Lord, know it completely.
When I read these words, I have this amazing sense of how it is that when we come to God in prayer, He already knows everything about us and He knows what we need to bring to Him in prayer. Our prayers can be the simplest of words that bring us near to God and remind us to depend on Him. I have been praying a very simple prayer that I heard recently with these words directed to God: You see me. You know me. You love me. This is the essence of prayer. We come to God and remember that He sees us, He knows us, and He loves us. When we are praying for others, we can focus our thoughts on the truth that: God sees them. God knows them. God loves them. All of this is very reassuring as we come to God in prayer again this week. We continue to recognize the immense need for God in our lives and in the world around us.
Today, Wednesday June 24th at 1pm, when we set aside time to pray together, we can be certain that God sees us. God knows us and God loves us. Here is the prayer we can bring together to God:
Our God Who sees us, Who knows us, and Who loves us, we are here again to release to You all that we have been thinking and feeling and wondering about. You see us and are ready to respond to us as we come to You in prayer. You are not distracted by anything else as You turn to look at us when we pray. We have Your undivided attention. And then we also realize that You know us. You have searched us and know our thoughts and words even before we do. And in knowing us completely Lord, You choose to love us. We find in You the infinite capacity to love that we need in our relationships. The more we know some people, the harder we sometimes find it to love and accept them. The more You know us. The more You love us. Please fill our hearts with this kind of love for people around us. These days we see the need for Your grace in the way we react to each other. The strain of lockdown has affected everyone. Now that we are starting to return to some of our regular activities, please give us patience with new considerations that take extra time and effort. Lord, please give us empathy with those who see things differently. Some people have ideas about the timing of things that are not the same as ours. We pray for those who are eager to gather together again. We pray for those who are reluctant and don’t feel comfortable with some restrictions being lifted. God in the midst of all this there is the danger that we will grow frustrated. Please continue to give us the ability to understand how others are feeling and to care about them as they are. We are asking You to be persistent in shaping our attitudes. We ask You to lead us away from the temptation to see things in such a negative light. We want to maintain our hope in You and to be available for the good You want to accomplish in and through us. Our prayers extend for those still being affected by the spread of the covid virus. As things ease for us, we pray that we will not forget those still engaged in this fierce battle. We do pray that You will make victory over this pandemic possible in Your time. When we are lifted up by the reality that You see us; You know us; and You love us, we ask You to enable us to give these same gifts to others. We want You to guide us in seeing people; knowing people; and loving people. Our awareness has been sharpened around serious issues of discrimination. We invite Your Spirit to confront us in the ways we view others. We pray that we will not settle back into complacency around equality for everyone. We pray that we will stand together for what is right in Your eyes every day. We will need energy and stamina to keep praying and to keep striving to be who You have called us to be. Loving God, it really is a blessing to have this avenue of pray when we can approach You with confidence and surrender to what You are doing in us and in our world. Each of us has family members and friends and neighbours for whom we are concerned. We bring these needs to You now believing that You see and know and love each of them. We are praying that they will receive necessary strength in realizing that You see them; know them; and love them. Thank You God for our regular, sweet times of prayer and inspiration from You. In the name of Jesus, Your Son and our Saviour. AMEN.