Humble Us and Draw Near

Lord, you oppose the proud and show favor to the humble, and we confess that we have been proud. We have wanted things and fought for them. We have made our plans as if tomorrow belonged to us. We have been friends with the world in a hundred small ways and called it being realistic. We do not want to be your enemies. We submit to you now, as fully as we know how, and we ask you to show us the parts we are still holding back.

You told us to come near, and you promised to come near to us. We are coming. Our hands are not clean and our hearts are not whole, but we bring them to you to be washed and made single. Where we have laughed off our sin, give us the grace to grieve it. Where we have lifted ourselves up, humble us gently, and then lift us in your own time and your own way. Help us to say, and to mean, if the Lord wills. Every day we have is yours. Teach us to live it as a gift and not a possession. Amen.