A Repentant Prayer

God, this is a thorn in my flesh,
Why must I be so opinionated?

Take this away, that is my request,
For it leaves me feeling so mad and alienated.

Yes, I am the first to say it is wrong,
Change me, I wish I were not this way.

Please give me new words and a new song,
Please sanctify my mouth and what I say.

You know that I love you so much my Lord,
Yet I am still a sinner in need of Your grace.

Help me remove this plank go to move forward,
Let Your radiance shine upon my face.

I claim victory over this thorn,
Your redemption over my mind and heart.

This too I am saved from, yes reborn,
When I let this go, I will be further set apart.

I release my justice and all my anguish,
My opinions and angry frustrations.

My anxiety and fears, I relinquish,
Take my judgements and all these evaluations.

Prune it all away and cleanse my mouth and hands,
I no longer want this distracting and wrenching sin.

Deepen my convictions, help me understand,
That to be like You, is the goal in the end.

Refresh my mind, strengthen my trust,
Help me drink this refining cup.

Lord, I know obedience is better than sacrifice,
I lay it down to remain in Your Presence for this life.

Forgive me now, please renew my love,
You are showing me how, boldly from above.

Thank you Jesus for Your help and forgiveness,
I pray that I will reflect Your mercy and kindness.

- By Jennifer Morin, September 19, 2012

SIFTING

About 2 months ago, this word started resinating in my heart..sifting, sifting, sifting.  And in the last month I have witnessed some sifting here and there....in a variety of places, all shapes & sizes.

Sifting is defined as 'to seperate'...'remove impurities, take out residue'.

So, for you, I have a few questions: do you see 'sifting' around you? In you? In your relationships? In your life? Who is doing the sifting?

Let's consider it this way too: is bad being seperated from the good? Or is the good being saved from the bad? Hmmmm. I could go deeper...but I will let you come up with an explanation and I would love to hear it and dialog with you. As you go about your day I want you to ponder this as your mind is mindful of the Lord.

This is the image I got when I googled 'sifting'.

If you're sifting for gold, seperating the rocks from the gold...then what happens after you have the gold seperated? Refining...Refining removes even more impurities...with high heat.

I guess you can further conclude that when the sifting begins, hang on...because the refining is around the corner. As I write this, I am reminded that this was a word on my heart, so what is the Lord preparing me for? What is He sifting in my life?



His sifting and His refining is welcomed...it gets rid of the residue of the world to leave me more readily available to do His work and His will. Lord prepare the way and prepare me! Amen?

I hope you have a wonderful & happy SONday!