Meditation/prayer based on Mk. 7: 24-37

Healing God,

You who watch over us, yet are within us as we try to live out our faith in You.  We come to you this morning wondering, hoping, praying that this silent time with you will awaken us to your healing presence.

For we come to you broken and bruised, torn apart by the stressors in our lives.  So many of these forces seem beyond our control, things that at times we cannot completely comprehend.  We feel the burden of financial pressure, the uncertainty of career choices, the choices we make in lifestyles or friendships.  Surround by these forces we have trouble staying focused on Your presence that is here for us at all times.  We quiet our minds, and close our eyes and fold our hands in an effort to connect to what is good, and true and eternal in You.

For the world you have given us is driven by uncertainty, and thrives on anxiety and pressure.  We are reminded quickly of what we have done wrong, or given advice on how we have made mistakes that should be corrected.  We suffer injuries in our health, both in body and spirit, and have trouble finding your healing touch.  As you have provided your healing touch to those who sought you out so many years ago, we ask that you provide us with your healing presence.  Help us to be open to You, and all the ways that You provide care for us.  Help us to accept the  limitations of our humanity, yet strive for overcoming weakness as we focus on our response to Your love.  

In our finiteness, in our weakness, in our limitations, help us to have a vision for the needs of those around us.  We know that at times we are blinded by what we cannot see, unaware of the voices we cannot hear, and live among the countless needs of your children.  For we know that there are those who will sleep tonight without shelter, and children who will go to school without food at home, and those in nursing homes who are lonely and afraid.  There are prisoners in our jails, and their families, who need the solace of your word.  All these we have turned away from, and now in our quiet time with You they surface, like faces looking through the window upon us in prayer.

Help us we pray, to be healed from the injuries that have affected us, the deafness and blindness that hinders us.  Help us to be restored so that we can in our healing be able to turn to our true ministry to others in Your Name.  We pray that this time of quiet, this time of returning to our deep faith in You, that we will be able to take part in the healing process that You provide for all your children.  We give thanksgiving for what you have done for us, what you have been for us, and for your eternal love that sustains us. 

For all this we pray in the Name of Your Son, Jesus, whose example guides us and sustains us.  Amen.