responsive prayer

Job refused to take silence for an answer.
He refused to accept cliches.
He refused to let You off the hook.

(selah)

Forgive us for being too timid to face You with our questions;
for preferring the role of the defeated victim;
for shutting You off in cold rage. Forgive us.

Forgive us for reducing our religion to answers,
for being content to be technically right, like Job's accusers,
without compassion. Forgive us.

Forgive us for not being honest with you or about you,
for our weak love that is easily content with half-truths.

Forgive us for expecting your blessing because of our merit.
Forgive us for assuming others are cursed by you
because they are suffering. Forgive us.

(selah)

Give us the courage to confront You with your questions,
our suffering, and our struggles.

Give us the eyes to see the good wherever it can be found,
the courage to love what is truly true, and the confidence to
believe that grace is stronger than sin.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. Amen.

(by Donna Dinsmore, worship co-ordinator at Regent College)