By Hal Green
Pondering Prayer
I turned to God long ago in desperation. My entire being shivered at the realization that without God, there was no possible solid ground upon which to build my life. As an agnostic finally searching for God, God found me, literally restoring my life. Later, the first time I read these words of David, I was filled with tearful gratefulness:
“I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord” (Ps 40:1-3).
That is just what God did for me, as God has done for countless others. And God can do so for you, if that is what you need. In gratitude, I offered this prayer about God’s “Grace,” which signifies God’s unearned, undeserved gift of saving love:
“You did not have to do what you did for me: reach out and pluck me from the dark burning of boundless despair, from the mocking meaninglessness that exists apart from the light of your love.”
“You did not have to revive and restore me, living now for You, in the tender atmosphere of the Spirit between us, the gentle Holy Spirit of Your love, which is better than life.”
“Why did You save me at the very hour of my going under, feeling then instead of the last wrenching of futility’s insensate claws, the first healing, knowing touch of Your rescuing fingers?
“That You, the living God, should be for me, who had not been for You; that You would reach out to hold and heal me, who can offer You only gratitude, and that inconsistently, inadequately, is the never diminishing wonder of my life.”
“That You did for me what You did not have to do, at the time when it had to be done, if it was ever going to be done, is the source of the ever-welling spring of life You birthed in my heart, the strength of my cleaving to You in hungering trust.”
“Nothing did You ask of me in exchange for Your grace, no conditions or constraints did You set forth. Yet Your lavish gifting aroused such ardor in me, such endless after-life, that I keep seeking to do for You what I do not have to but choose to do.”
“In saving my life, You gave me Your life to found my life, Your love to ground my love, Your grace to spawn in me grace like light for others.”
As best you can, open to the grace of God, who in Christ has come to save and succor you. Your salvation is not ultimately about you; it is about the Giver, God, who loves you as you are. I do not know of a greater miracle than that, the love of God.
(Hal Green, Ph.D., is author of Pray This Way to Connect with God. You can contact him at drhalgreen@gmail.com.)
