Dear Lord, our God,
We thank you for your faithful presence. Your love toward us never fails. Your grace is always sufficient for us. We are deeply grateful that you are our Good Shepherd and our most loving Father. You are our greatest Blessing. We want to be with you always.
But it is not always easy to seek you. In good times, we sometimes forget about you while indulging ourselves in earthly pleasures. In bad times, we sometimes lose sight of you while filling ourselves with self-pity. Have mercy on us. Put us back on your way when we go astray. We want to be a people who seek you always and everywhere under any circumstance.
You have promised to be with us. You told us that you would never leave us or forsake us. But we confess that there are times when we sense you not near us but in a far distance. In such times, we feel that we seek you in darkness just as Mary Magdalene sought you at the empty tomb.
Even though you were with her, she didn’t recognize you. She had to seek you desperately with tears. We remember that her eyes were opened to your presence only when you called her name. We ask you to grant us the same blessing that you gave to her.
Just as you called her name, call our names any time we seek you in darkness. Call our names when all we see is divisions; when all we see is greed and hatred; when all we see is discrimination and oppression. Call our names when all we see is hunger and poverty; when all we see is violence and death; when all we see is meaninglessness and hopelessness.
Call our names so that our eyes may be opened and see your light even in our darkness. By your Spirit, empower us to continue to be the people who seek you at all times. We pray these in your name, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Written by Rev. Sunny Limm. Used with permission