A Prayer for My Year of Grace

Cedar waxwing

My focus word for 2020 is grace. The Lord in His providence has appointed an extra measure of “hard eucharisteo” for the end of December and, perhaps, most of 2020. I am feeling a need to trust that this too is grace, to receive the promised sufficient grace for my weaknesses, and to accept grace from God and others when the highest priority areas cause me to drop the ball in other areas that matter to me but need to be lower in importance and urgency at the moment.

For my Bible reading, I’m returning to an old, familiar edition that is thoroughly marked up. Because of that, a prayer copied on the flyleaf came back to my notice. It fits so well with my word for the year that I’m commending it to your attention as well. Maybe another soul needs to pray it, too?

Lord Jesus, we are silly sheep who have dared to stand before You and tried to bribe You with our preposterous portfolios.  Suddenly we have come to our senses. We are sorry and ask You to forgive us. Give us the grace to admit we are ragamuffins, to embrace our brokenness, to celebrate Your mercy when we are at our weakest, to rely on Your mercy no matter what we may do. Dear Jesus, gift us to stop grandstanding and trying to get attention, to do the truth quietly without display, to let the dishonesties in our lives fade away, to accept our limitations, to cling to the gospel of grace, and to delight in Your love. Amen (Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel).