"I
was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask, to be found by those who
did not seek me. I said, 'Here I am, here I am', to a nation that did not call
on my name." Isaiah 65:1
Pray
in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep
alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. Ephesians 6:18
Through the prophet, God speaks to his people,
who, after Babylon's defeat in 539 BC, had returned from exile to Judah
expecting prosperity and stability but finding hardship and famine. Had God deserted them? No, quite the opposite. This is no hidden God, but one eager to be
sought out and found. The heartfelt 'Here I am, here I am,' to his neglectful
people reminds us in Lent of Jesus's equally heartfelt lament over Jerusalem: 'How often have I desired to gather your
children together ... and you were not willing!' (Matthew 23:37) This is a God who is longing
for each of us, without exception, in all our human diversity and frailty.
If God's longing for us is so intense, and his
presence so near, prayer should be easy - but sometimes it isn't. Perhaps we
want to feel a warm glow and are disappointed if we don't. Paul teaches us to
pray always 'in the Spirit,' for if we
ask him, God's Spirit will pray within us more deeply than we can do ourselves,
at a level we probably cannot feel. Our human part in prayer, says Paul, is always
and everywhere to be on the alert for God, and, especially, never to give up in
our prayer for others. This is how we,
unlike the returned exiles, can truly ask, seek and call on the God who longs
to be found.
O God, of your goodness, give us yourself, for
only in you do we have all. Amen
Julian of Norwich (1342-1416)
Pam Hunt
Metropolitan Church
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