Heavenly Father,
We welcome you into this space right now.
Please remind us of your presence,
Whether it is just looking at your face,
Closing our eyes and imagining how your eyes meet our eyes.
What does your gaze look like?
Are you happy?
Are you content?
Are you well pleased with us?
If you notice anything other than contentedness,
Joy,
Excitement,
Or peace coming from Jesus,
We lay that down at your feet,
Lord.
We ask that you would transform that feeling into something beautiful,
Into something good.
But we don't want to just rush through,
Lord.
We want to invite or ask you to meet us in that space.
I pray that we would ask you for understanding,
For wisdom.
Is there shame that we've been burying?
Is there sorrow?
Is there fear?
Lord,
We ask for you to extend your hand and place it gently in ours.
May the warmth from you radiate.
May we notice your love,
The energy that exudes from you to our body,
To our spirit,
To our heart.
Let us take a moment to feel the sensation stemming from the literal hand of Jesus.
Maybe he's even grasping your hand with both of his hands.
Maybe he's calmly and tenderly just holding your hand,
Enveloping your hand with a feeling of safety,
Reminding you that he is your friend.
He is a safe space.
He has never left you.
He cannot ever leave you.
Let us take a moment to see and feel and notice the sensation of safety when he is holding our hand.
If your mind wanders,
It's okay.
He's there with you as well.
If it's still focused on the moment,
He is with you always.
And Lord,
We continue to invite you into our lives,
Into our heart.
What is it that we are carrying today that we need to lift off of our shoulders and set down before you?
Maybe we can open our hand and hand you the weight that we're carrying,
And you can take that from us.
I pray,
Lord,
That you would show us what that looks like.
What is it?
Is it something physical that we can imagine?
Can we imagine placing our pain in our hands and handing it over to you?
Can we imagine an object that represents grief and hand it over to you?
And what do you do when you take it upon yourself?
What does it look like?
Are you weighed down,
Or are you so strong that it doesn't even affect you?
You knew beforehand that we would need you to carry this,
And you are prepared.
You are not shaken.
You have not lost balance.
You have both your feet on the ground,
And you are able to easily manage this and carry this.
In fact,
You extend your arm out to hold us and hug us and embrace us while you carry this burden.
We thank you,
Lord,
For your strength,
And we ask for more.
More healing.
Show us.
Show us throughout this day where you are.
If there are moments where it feels too heavy,
Help us to slow down,
Close our eyes,
Take a deep breath,
And invite you into the moment,
Into the pain,
Even if there is a memory that comes up.
Help us to invite you into that and ask you what you would say about it,
How you feel about it.
Since we know that you are a God who is safe,
Who cannot lie,
Who loves us with this incredibly immense love that you would absolutely sacrifice yourself for us,
That it was by your wounds that we are healed,
Help us to remember those truths throughout this day,
Lord.
And if there's anything that we haven't been able to set down in front of you at your throne,
I ask right now that you would intercede,
Jesus.
You are so strong and so wise and so powerful.
You are omnipresent,
Omnipotent.
You are omniscient.
And I pray that that would be at the forefront of our mind,
That we would remember how amazingly powerful you are.
And I just ask that anything that we have not been able to lay down,
That you would do it for us,
That you would just lift it off of us,
And that after this time today,
We would actually truly feel a physical release in our bodies.
I pray for a release.
I pray for a lighter feeling,
For a floating sensation.
And we just thank you,
God.
We thank you that you are the greatest healer and the most amazing redeemer,
And that even if we don't see what your plans are for us right now,
We can cling on to the hope that you do have good plans for us.
We love you,
Jesus,
And we pray all these things in your name.
Amen.
