I pray that the eyes of your heart will have enough light to see what is the hope of God’s call, what is the richness of God’s glorious inheritance among believers.

Ephesians 1:18

What’s on my mind – my heart – this morning is that I do not pray enough.

Maybe “enough” isn’t a helpful word; maybe what I really mean is that I do not have a prayerful disposition, or orientation, or attitude – or at least not to the degree that my expressed commitment to faith would suggest.

I’m not sure that what I need is more formal prayer so much as more intuitive prayer, more of prayer as an undercurrent that naturally surfaces rather than something tucked away into neat places at the beginning and the ending of the day.

What I’m thinking about is prayer that both anchors me and steers me; prayer that has more influence in my subconscious; prayer that is already speaking to my heart before it finds its way to my lips.

And this time of the year turns out to be a great place to take a few steps in that direction. But I need help – we all do.

So this is a prayer that is starting on my lips and then hopefully taking residence in my heart… and – maybe – yours too – DEREK

“Great God of the Universe, the God who broke into time and space as a child in Bethlehem, and who intends to break through in the same way today, please enter into my story during this season of anticipation. I offer you every Christmas decoration, every Christmas song, every light and candle and purchase and gift; transform these secular tokens into holy vessels of light and grace. Rather than engaging the thin veneer of festive decor let me encounter the deep authenticity of your mercy and love at every turn. May my experience of December be saturated with an awareness of the holy. And I pray, using the words of Ephesians, that the eyes of all our hearts will have enough light to see what is the hope of God’s call, and the richness of God’s glorious inheritance. Amen“