Weekly Focus
Monday Insight Post
by Kim Feld
If you know me well, you know that I love books, especially books that speak to me on a personal and soul-touching level. I have a friend that often shares pictures of what he is reading on Instagram, and it’s nearly guaranteed that I will be looking for those books because I know I will be impacted by them. Two of those books are by Audrey Elledge and Elizabeth Moore, entitled Liturgies for Wholeness and Liturgies for Hope. The prayer below is from Liturgies for Hope. If you are working on the practice of fasting, I hope this prayer will be as useful to you as it has been to me.
Forgive me, Father, for I have delighted in Your blessings
more than I have delighted in You.
Like a child creating sandcastles, I have built routines and
habits around Your gifts,
unaware of their fragility and dependent on them for joy.
Lately I have padded myself with creature comforts that
bury my eternal longings until they are scarcely
felt, hardly pulsing.
So here I am, abstaining from the good in pursuit of the Better.Oh, Jesus, I long to grieve Your absence,
to rightly feel the sting of dependence on You,
to let You take first place in all things.
Today I fast when my flesh roars feast,
because earthly abundance has hidden Your face from view.
Show me how You did this for forty days –
how the Word became food
and prayer became life.
Remind me how You are often found where scarcity is felt.In this fast, may the space between heaven and earth grow thin.
As I empty myself, may the acoustics of my heart
transform so I can hear Your voice,
the gentlest of whispers often muffled when I’m full.
You do not demand that I fast
but rather invite me to into this voluntary surrender for my good.
Today I inhale mercy and exhale grace,
trusting that You are the only one who nourishes and sustains.Oh Lord, You say that some things change only through prayer and fasting.
I’m so eager for You to move,
so I stand here at Your door: asking, seeking, pounding.
But if nothing breaks or alters or shifts monumentally from this fast
yet I still learn to better recognize Your voice,
to grow fonder of my Creator,
to root myself deeper in love,
then, Oh Father, it was worth it.Invite me into holy restraint, Oh God.
Put a seal over my mouth so that I do not brag about my sacrifice
or expect applause for my grit
but rather relish the beauty of sharing a secret discipline with You.Oh my soul, do not strain for a reward.
Live quietly, and ask for a multiplication of strength
so that you can fast for both yourself and others.
Remember that weakness comes before breakthrough.Amen
Kim Feld
Executive Director of Education and Outreach
Reference: Elledge, A., & Moore, E. (2022). Liturgies for hope: Sixty prayers for the highs, the lows, and everything in between.Waterbrook.
New Hope Church
Lorton, Virginia
newhope.org
