My Prayer for Today

Generous in love—God, give grace! Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record. 
Scrub away my guilt, soak out my sins in your laundry. 
I know how bad I’ve been; my sins are staring me down. 

You’re the One I’ve violated, and you’ve seen it all, seen the full extent of my evil. 
You have all the facts before you; whatever you decide about me is fair. 
I’ve been out of step with you for a long time, in the wrong since before I was born. 
What you’re after is truth from the inside out. Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life. 

Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean, scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life. 
Tune me in to foot-tapping songs, set these once-broken bones to dancing. 
Don’t look too close for blemishes, give me a clean bill of health. 
God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. 
Don’t throw me out with the trash, or fail to breathe holiness in me. 
Bring me back from gray exile, put a fresh wind in my sails! Give me a job teaching rebels your ways so the lost can find their way home. 
Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God, and I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways. 
Unbutton my lips, dear God; I’ll let loose with your praise. 

Going through the motions doesn’t please you, a flawless performance is nothing to you. 
I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. 
Heart-shattered lives ready for love don’t for a moment escape God’s notice. 

Make Zion the place you delight in, repair Jerusalem’s broken-down walls. 
Then you’ll get real worship from us, acts of worship small and large, including all the bulls they can heave onto your altar!

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