By Dorrell Brown.
What happens when one prepares and one forgets? I’ll tell you: the outcome changes. My sister was preparing for her bake-off and had everything all planned out. When the cookies were almost done, the sugar was still sitting on the counter, so it was tossed in the garbage and her cookies were then labeled diabetic cookies.
I usually tune in live for worship, however I often travel and sometimes forget that 11 a.m. where I am is not necessarily 11 a.m. in Dallas, so of course you can guess those outcomes.
If you forgot your offerings today, or God forbid, your phones, “Don’t worry about a thing, ‘cause every little thing gonna be all right,” as Bob Marley would sing. Whatever you might have forgotten to do or bring, one of today’s outcomes is our public attendance.
So when we pray in our own words, we do it without a mediator. We can talk to the God mentioned in Psalm 25 directly in our own simple words and in our own language … silently or out loud. And even if we fall asleep while praying, we will be awakened by the organ playing “Rejoice Ye Pure In Heart,” so let us pray.
Gracious God, you know the truth, so if you show that to me, it will help a lot. I don’t want to get lost, so show me the way, please. Don’t let unkind people make me a laughingstock. Now that my memory is not as sharp, I might have forgotten wrong deeds for which I had not asked forgiveness. Loving God, please don’t just forgive but forget about them all. Right now I might not be making any sense, and you know why: I fell asleep AGAIN during prayer. Forgive me, Lord. Also, at the start I said let us pray, so gracious Father, please substitute all my I’s, me’s and my’s to we, us and ours. Amen.
Now let us lift up our voices and sing. Again, don’t worry if you are off beat. There’s good sound coming from the organ, so your neighbor won’t hear your off tone. When it’s time, partake in the Lord’s Supper, be STILL, LISTEN, and I am hoping the word today stirs our hearts so we experience another outcome … a personal encounter.