Yearning

Heavenly Father,

I have started to build the kind of habits that make my life look honoring to you.  I fear my heart is not in them.  Help me to continue to do the things you command.  Help me not to be discouraged.  But much more, I pray that you would fill me with a passion for you.  I don’t want to act out of duty forever.  Be my delight.  Capture my affections in your alluring presence.  I wish to feel your love permeate my whole self.  My soul pants for genuine connection with its maker.  You are speaking in and to me, but so often, I don’t slow down enough to experience it in the moment.  Teach me to be mindful of you throughout the day.  As Jacob said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” Open my eyes to not just your working, but your very being.  May the light of your holiness burn away the sin and distractions that blind me and keep me from experiencing the fullness of who you are.

In the name of the firstborn of many brothers.  Amen.