Praying Yes! Today

A prayer by Walter Brueggemann

You are the God who is simple, direct, clear with us and for us.

You have committed yourself to us.
You have said yes to us in creation,
yes to us in our birth,
yes to us in our baptism,
yes to us in our awakening this day.

But we are of another kind,
more accustomed to “perhaps, maybe, we’ll see,’
left in wonderment and ambiguity.

We live our lives not back to your yes,
but out of our endless “perhaps.”

So we pray for your mercy this day that we may live yes back to you,
yes with our time,
yes with our money,
yes with our sexuality,
yes with our strength and with our weakness,
yes to our neighbor,
yes and no long “perhaps.”

In the name of your enfleshed yes to us,
even Jesus who is our yes into your future.

Amen to these words, to this prayer. Living yes back to God is a commitment  —  to a Father who is good, and to a life that is purposefully, and to people who deserve love always. Always. Surrender came before yes, and I see now how those two words are intimately tangled in faith. For trust comes through surrender, and yes comes after trust.

I’m praying through the word yes this year. Are you focusing on a particular phrase or word or theme as you walk through 2014? I’d love to hear about them.

Thanks to Mark for sending me this prayer.