A time to be known

September 17, 2022

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All expansive God,
one who sees all
and whose hands and heart
are always open–
help me surrender
all my defense mechanisms
to you.
Help me to recognize
all the ways I am closed off
to you,
to the world.
Begin to open my heart,
and turn my whole being toward you,
for that is what it means to live in faith–
trusting every part of me to you,
allowing myself to receive
the grace you so long to give.

Psalm 139: 1-6 God, investigate my life; get all the facts firsthand. I’m an open book to you; even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking. You know when I leave and when I get back; I’m never out of your sight. You know everything I’m going to say before I start the first sentence. I look behind me and you’re there, then up ahead and you’re there, too–your reassuring presence, coming and going. This is too much, too wonderful–I can’t take it all in!

Proverbs 3: 5-6 Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything yo do, everywhere you go; he’s the one will keep you on track.

Isaiah 30: 18 But God’s not finished. He’s waiting around to be gracious to you. He’s gathering strength to show mercy to you. God takes the time to do everything right—everything. Those who wait around for him are the lucky ones.


September 10, 2022

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Master potter,
brilliant creator,
I have hidden myself
within the lump of clay.
Chip away at my false beliefs
and defense mechanisms.
Sculpt me into the form
you desire,
the beautiful, precious
essence of me
you dreamed up
and placed in the world–
for I yearn to emerge.

Isaiah 64:8 Still, God, you are our Father. We’re the clay and you’re our potter: All of us are what you made us.

July 16, 2022

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God of Hagar,
the divine alive who sees me,
help me to see myself
as you see me–
because that would change everything.

Genesis 16:13-14 She (Hagar) answered God by name, praying to the God who spoke to her, “You’re the God who sees me! Yes! He saw me: and then I saw him!” That’s how that desert spring got named “God-Alive-Sees-Me Spring.” That spring is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.

May 1, 2022

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Our creator,
one who crafted
our intricate bodies,
help us to live at home in them.
Help us to release
fear, anxiety, envy, shame, the need to control
with every breath out
and to welcome
love, joy, gratitude, wonder, openness
with every breath in
because what we hold in our bodies matters–
for they are your living sanctuaries.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or didn’t you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don’t you see that you can’t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body.

April 2, 2022

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God of Moses,
the everlasting I Am,
help me to learn
that I am not what others
think of me–
I am not even what I think of me.
May I remember
that my worth is found in you,
for I am who I am–
your beloved child.

Exodus 3:13-15 Then Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the People of Israel and I tell them, ‘The God of your fathers sent me to you’; and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ What do I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I-AM-WHO-I-AM. Tell the People of Israel, ‘I-AM sent me to you.’” God continued with Moses: “This is what you’re to say to the Israelites: ‘God, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob sent me to you.’ This has always been my name, and this is how I always will be known.

1 John 3: 1 What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we’re called children of God! That’s who we really are.

February 12, 2022

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Creator of all, you named me into being
stitched me together in my mother’s womb
and called me good.
May I remember–
deeper than in my bones–
may I remember in the depths of my soul:
I am good. I am valuable. I am loved.
Because I forget over and over,
and in the forgetting I follow any path
and lose the very person you created me to be.
So may I remember
every day
every hour
every minute
every moment
because you, oh creator, loved me first.
Because in you, oh creator, I am held.
Because in you, oh creator, I am found.

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Psalm 139: 13-16 Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, the days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.

1 John 4:19 We, though, are going to love—love and be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first.


January 22, 2022

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Creator of all life,
teach us to see our own bodies
and all bodies
the way you do–
beautiful and bright,
glorious in our uniqueness,
deserving of respect and reverence,
for our bodies are your sacred creation.

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1 Corinthians 39-40: You will notice the variety of bodies is stunning. Just as there are different kinds of seeds, there are different kinds of bodies–humans, animals, birds, fish–each unprecedented in its form. You get a hint at the diversity of resurrection glory by looking at the diversity of bodies not only on earth but in the skies–sun, moon, stars–all these varieties of beauty and brightness.

January 16, 2022

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Jesus, writer in the dirt,
your way is not one of shame.
Help us move
through our feelings of shame, inadequacy and brokenness
toward your true story
of acceptance, wholeness, grace, and love–
for you are greater than our worried hearts,
and know more about us
than we do ourselves.

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John 8:1-11 Jesus went across to Mount Olives, but he was soon back in the Temple again. Swarms of people came to him. He sat down and taught them. The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said, “Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?” They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, “The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone.” Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt. Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. “Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?” “No one, Master.” “Neither do I,” said Jesus. “Go on your way. From now on, don’t sin.”

1 John 3:18-20 My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love. This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality. It’s also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves.

October 29, 2021

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God who knows us intimately,
who stitched us together in the womb,
who knows the number of hairs on our heads
and the desires of our hearts—
we ask that you would help us know ourselves
and share ourselves—
for to feel wholly loved
we need to know that we are known.

Psalm 139: 13-16
Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I’d even lived one day.