Prayer to the Merciful God - by Bishop Pablo David

 PRAYER TO Merciful God

I come to You, o Merciful God

with all that weighs down my soul,

with all my worries and anxieties,

with all the trials that confront me,

with all that troubles my heart and my mind,

with all the needs of the people I love,

with all my sins and weaknesses,

with my frail faith,

with my wavering trust,

with my imperfect love.

I come to You like the woman who had been bleeding for years

so that like her, I, too, would be cured by just touching the hem of Your garment.

I come to You like that leper who begged for Your mercy

so that You would touch me and heal me,

so that You would cleanse my soul and my body,

so that You would grant me a new life and new sense of purpose.

I come to You to commend my loved ones to Your care

like the people who brought their paralytic friend before You

so that he could be touched by You.

I too, dear Lord am longing to bring my loved ones closer to You

so that they too would get the chance to hear Your comforting words,

so that by the power of Your grace

their wobbly knees and drooping spirits would regain strength,

so that they would not falter and fall or lose their way again.

I come to You o Merciful God

like the Canaanite woman,

who pleaded and begged in behalf of her sick daughter and

believed in the goodness of Your heart and

in Your infinite mercy and compassion for the helpless.

Like her, I count on Your grace like a dog waiting for scraps to fall from the master’s table.

I come to You like the woman accused of adultery,

who was bound to be stoned by the self-righteous,

because I know that You are merciful,

and that You alone can forgive my shortcomings,

You alone can shield me from shame,

and You alone can lift me up.

I come to You like St. Peter

when You appeared to him and he almost drowned in shame,

when You invited him to break bread with you

so that he could reaffirm his love for You,

despite his repeated denials of ever knowing you at the hour of Your trial.

I come to You, like the disciples on their way to Emmaus

so that like them, I, too, could walk with You

and find enlightenment along the way,

so that through Your divine words

my heart, grown cold and numb and shrouded in darkness,

would be set aflame and find light in your love,

so that I would sense and appreciate Your presence in our midst

and find the strength to confront the realities that I have always been avoiding.

I surrender everything to You, O Merciful God –

all that I have and all that I am

because You alone are my Lord and my God,

You who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit

forever and ever. Amen.