We are called to love God with all we are: heart, soul, mind and strength, and in order that we can love others as they are, we are called to love who we are.
These prayers and liturgies have been gathered to help you find the inner freedom to be with God in all the situations of your life, including those times when you might feel cut off from God – or that God seems absent, distant or uncomfortable. Such feelings are normal, and acknowledging that sometimes nothing works is both important and biblical (cf Psalms 88 or 137). Whatever our age or stage of faith, all of us experience the challenge of maintaining our mental health and stability; so please use and adapt these resources to your use and the group you are working with.
As you engage with these resources, it is worth reflecting on the comments of Philip Yancey: “One bold message in the book of Job is that you can say anything to God. Throw at him your grief, your anger, your doubt, your bitterness, your betrayal, your disappointment – he can absorb them all. As often as not, spiritual giants of the Bible are shown contending with God. They prefer to go away limping, like Jacob rather than to shut God out.”
A Prayer of Welcome
Come and bring your hidden places.
Come and bring your hurting spaces.
Come and eat with hearts that break.
Come and drink, new worlds to make.
Come and feast, your vision spread.
Despair and Hope connects the fed.
Jesus says, ‘Come!’
© Christopher Newell 2012