September 6, 2021
A daily prayer from the New England Conference
The clergy and laity of the New England Conference are sharing a daily prayer based on the Revised Common Lectionary for the week.
You are welcome to use these in worship or in your own devotions. Today’s Prayer
You call to me in the crowd with the most difficult challenges one can imagine and I struggle again to hear your voice above the din and then suddenly I hear You, again and for the first time. I hear You call to me in this crowded life I live and you tell me to, “deny myself.” And so, I pray this day that I am able to, even if just for a brief moment, push back the ways of the world and see the world you see instead. I pray this day I am able to, even for a brief moment, deny the face I see in the mirror and instead see who you see in me, making way for You to enter my life. Yet, You are not done. You call to me again in the chaos of my daily struggles with an even more difficult task to, “take up my cross.” And so I pray this day that I can find the strength You offer and gladly let go, let go of all that has weighed me down and pick up the cross you offer me. I pray I am able, through You, to feel its weight on my shoulders and then to realize You are there carrying it with me, that You have carried the most difficult cross already, making mine lighter than I imagined possible. Yet, You are not done. Not finished, You call to me in the jumble of my travels through this life and tell me that to be with You, I need to stop my meanderings, that I must “follow You.” And so I pray this day that I can take that first step, can find that path I seem to find and lose when the world distracts me. I pray I am able to finally listen to Your voice always so patient and so near calling to me, leading me, encouraging me, even calling me by name telling me, “follow me, follow me to life, follow me.” In all this Lord, I pray for the courage to deny myself, take up my cross, and begin (again) the most wondrous journey, and follow you, to be Your disciple. Amen Based on Mark 8:27-38 Rick Rabe, LLP, West Springfield UMC, West Springfield, MA
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