A Prayer For Hearing God

A Prayer for Hearing God

O God, let us hear You

In the hot, salty tears of an upset toddler

And in the deafening door slam of a frustrated teen.

Help us listen, Lord, for our lives are loud

And parenting is overwhelming.

We can barely hear ourselves think,

Let alone process the latest headline.

O God, let us hear You

With a willingness to understand

Instead of demands to be understood.

Help us listen, Lord, to the hurting

In our families and friends,

And in our neighbors and nations, too.

O God, let us hear You.

Help us be brave enough to get quiet,

To sit with the hidden corners of our own hearts.

Lord, we post and shout, demanding to be heard,

Because we’re too afraid of what we’ll hear if we stop.

O God, let us hear You

In the cries of our children

And the cries of our neighbors.

Help us to stop talking so we may hear

What You have to tell us

Through the heartbeat of another.

O God, let us hear You.

1 Samuel 3:1-10; John 10:27; Matthew 6:6-8