Open To Truth

OPEN TO TRUTH

a prayer to open

Here’s my heart, Lord. Speak what is true.

Here’s my life, Lord. Speak what is true.

Then I realized that my heart was bitter,

and I was all torn up inside.

I was so foolish and ignorant—

I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you.

Yet I still belong to you;

you hold my right hand.

You guide me with your counsel,

leading me to a glorious destiny.

Whom have I in heaven but you?

I desire you more than anything on earth.

My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak,

but God remains the strength of my heart;

he is mine forever.

Bitterness can have such a deep hold on us that we don’t even know it’s there. Others see it. They hear it in our words and our silent judgment. They know it by our criticism, cynicism, and complaints. What will make us realize that our hearts have turned to bitterness and we’ve lost hope? Often we can’t come to awareness on our own. We need the Holy Spirit to convict us and remind us of God’s presence and active redemption. We need friends to call us out. We need practices that will cultivate hope, patience, and compassion. How might our lives be shaped if we were open to the Spirit’s truth and our friends’ correction in order to rid ourselves of bitterness?

• Read this passage again slowly. What word or phrase stands out to you? Why do you think that word or phrase speaks to you? What does it say?
• Take a few minutes, remembering you are in God’s loving presence, to reflect on your heart. Where has bitterness taken root? Why do you think bitterness has taken root? Where do you sense bitterness getting a foothold? What practices might help you rid yourself of this growing bitterness?
• What circumstances, relationships, and activities tend to turn your heart toward bitterness? What changes do you need to make to rid yourself of the bitterness these things create?

Lord, may all bitterness toward others be rooted out of my heart. I want none of that choking out the hope I have in you or the love I long to share with the people in my life. Give me eyes to see when bitterness is taking over and judgment is my first instinct. Grow my capacity for patience and compassion. Where I am prone to bitterness because of circumstance or the people I am with, show me a way out. Show me the way of hope. Amen.