A Prayer: Inspired by the Book of Jonah

מנה

(in certain contexts to appoint, ordain, assign)

Oh Creator and Sustainer,

(your fingerprints on everything we see and touch and smell and feel, visible and invisible),

You are Lord and Provider over all--

--the deep, mysterious seas and her wild, colorful creature,

--the vegetation, green grasses of lettuce and kale, deep oaks exhaling oxygen, our food and shelter graced to us by your hand, and the beauty of a flower for your children,

--the creepers and crawlers, bugs and elephants, the microbes working in our guts, all obey your sweet commands,

--the forces of nature, gusts of wind and falling ice, the suns and stars, which you set to rule over days and nights, they are your emissaries. 

You appoint; you rule. All authority has been given to you, Jesus. 

When the deep seas overwhelm shores and the vegetation withers or the microbes attack and the ice strikes with a vengeance, even then, your authority still stands and your plans of deliverance and abundance are not foiled. 

To trust that you appoint, that you move within your creation, is to remember when we saw you move, saw you appoint, saw you orchestrate to save and restore. We remember Jonah's withered plant, we remember the dry land in the midst of a Red Sea. We remember in our own lives, how you are constantly creating, providing, sustaining, and appointing. 

I remember how you do not allow me to avoid conflict in my life (even thought I am an avid conflict avoider). You appoint that acid traveling up my esophagus, a sure sign of somewhere, something unraveling shalom. (Peace and restoration are not found in avoidance, neglect, or falsehood.)

I confess that it is hard to see and acknowledge your hand working in this world. 

Grant that I may more and more see the way you work in your creation to bring people to yourself and shower them with your love, even when it's bleak. For when a storm surrounds us, a fish swallows us, a plant grows and withers, and a hot sun scorches, even there--especially there--you are. 

This I pray in the name of the One who was appointed to die for my deliverance and to be raised for my restoration, Jesus and in the power of Holy Spirit,

Amen.