Mtr Kelli Joyce

Hear my cry, O God, *
and listen to my prayer.

Dear friends in Christ,

The last few weeks have been tumultuous and frightening - or, at least, I've experienced them that way. From broad concerns like health and the economy to more local and personal concerns, it can seem like we've all been on a rollercoaster lately. And not a particularly fun one.

The thing I'm struck by is how long it often takes me to turn to God in prayer amid the chaos. In fact, I think it's easy to think of a robust practice of prayer as something of a luxury, that we'll definitely get around to when we're less busy and overwhelmed and have time for it. But I'm learning, day by day, that it's actually just the opposite. When everything around us is change and uncertainty and indifference, that is the time when it is most important that we seek to center our lives and our days on the unchanging, faithful, and loving God revealed to us in Jesus of Nazareth.

Prayer is not merely the offering of polished and poetic words to God, although it can be that. Far more often, though, the prayer that God wants from us is the unfiltered and unashamed cry of our hearts - in fear, or sorrow, or joy, or hope. Whatever we are actually feeling and thinking is what God wants to hear from us - God doesn't need to be protected from the truth of our hearts.

Whatever may come in the weeks ahead, remember the rock upon which our faith is founded: the Lord of Hosts, the Creator of heaven and earth, who watches over each of us and who never slumbers nor sleeps.

In peace,
Mtr. Kelli