“Prayer”
SCRIPTURE
“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” —Luke 22:42
DEVOTIONAL
There is a story from the Sufi tradition about a man who cried, “Allah! Allah!” until his lips became sweet with the sound.
A skeptic who heard him said, “Well! I have heard you calling out, but where is the answer to your prayer? Have you ever gotten a response?” The man had no answer to that.
Sadly, he abandoned his prayers and went to sleep.
In his dreams he saw Khazir, the soul guide, walking toward him through a garden.
“Why did you stop praising?” the saint asked him.
“Because I never heard anything back,” the man said.
“This longing you voice is the return message,” Khazir told him.
The grief you cry out from draws you toward union.
Your pure sadness that wants help is the secret cup.
Listen to the moan of a dog for its master.
That whining is the connection.
There are love dogs no one knows the names of.
Give your life to be one of them.
—Rumi
PRAYER
Lord, we do not pray so much for a response, as the desire to draw closer.
Not so much to see you, as to find peace with your mystery.
Not so much for your fullness, as to sanctify our emptiness.
Not so much to stop the groaning, as to lift up that longing to you. Amen.
The daily devotionals for the season of Lent are written by Rev. Dr. Kirk Hall, Associate Pastor of Formation at First Presbyterian Church from 2010-2013. He is currently a founding partner at The Metis Project, LLC. and lives with his wife and two girls in Salisbury, Connecticut.