An Open Prayer

Father, I wish to raise my heart to you; my spirit wants to reach with you. First to thank you for who you are. Even when I am unfaithful, you remain faithful. When I drift away wanting to replace you with your creation, you wait for me silently. Soon that which glittered proves not to be gold and I run back to you. I have done this time without number, and for every time I return, you took me back. Who are you Lord? Who can be more faithful? Who can be a better lover?
Your faithfulness humbles me. I acknowledge your grace in my life for without your grace, I would be lost. So even before I decide to come back to you, your grace has already begun working in me to bring me to the point of making the decision to come back to you.
Let them pretend they are perfect, Lord you know I am not. Let them act as if they never feel pain, Father I have my share. But I look at myself and perceive your grace. When I am uncertain, I continue because my faith is in you; when fear creeps into me, I do not quit because your spirit of courage keeps me going; when the trial persists I refuse to give up because you have given me the virtue of perseverance. If there is one thing possible to speak positively about the devil, I would say it is his perseverance. But I believe even the devil has been troubled by my perseverance. My help comes from you Father who made the visible and invisible. Your Word on my right and the experience you have permitted me on the left, I am able to walk through the valley; your existence comforts me. When life seems like a desert, you are my oasis.
And so you lead me to a deeper connection with you. I was scared at first because I knew that path was not an easy one. I preferred keeping you at a distance to come to you when the world disappoints me and to remain with the world otherwise. But beginning to know you has been the joy of my soul. I cannot know you fully, not in this life, but the experience thus far proves you are the essence of my being, the fulfilment of my soul. I thought I knew you when I knew some of your attributes. Even in trying to understand your attributes, it was from what you were not. Lord, I want to know you and I know that that happens when I experience you. You are not a concept to be grasped; you are a being to be experienced. Let me not just know about you, let me know you. In knowing you, my capacity to experience you increases.
I have heard so much prayer against enemies that I wonder if I am the only one not praying against them. If I have enemies Lord, I do not know and if I do have I do not pray for their death. I pray that their hearts may be changed. As long as you live, evil will not triumph.
I pray for my family and friends. Grant them peace. It is ironical how man abandons you to seek that which is not you and when they get it having lost peace in the process, they are ready to trade what they possess in order that they may have you back for you give the peace that this world cannot give.
Father, grant that my family and friends do not blindly follow the dictates of the society. Beyond success may they be impactful, beyond achievement may they be fruitful. If the world chooses not to acknowledge your sovereignty, may they choose to love and serve you for their happiness lies therein.
I do not bother about the length of my days on earth; I can care less. But I ask for the grace to do the best I can with the days you have given me. You gave me gifts. The gifts are not for me, they are for others. Help me optimize the use of my gifts in the service of others. I am not after doing the so-called great things; I want to do the little things with the kind of love your Son displayed while he carried out his good works on earth. That attitude has not been an easy one for me I confess.
I submit to your infinite wisdom. I look back and I see that the experience you have permitted me thus far has contributed to making me who I am. In spite of my mistakes, I do not regret who I am. I am growing through this experience called life. Nothing that happens in life escapes your control.
Lord, I trust in your loving care. May your providence lead all who read this prayer to their proper end. Amen.