A Prayer to Return to the Fountain

Father, You are the fountain of living water, and we confess that we have often walked away from You to dig our own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water. We have leaned on money, approval and achievement, and we are still thirsty. Today we hear You call, "Return, O faithless children, and I will heal your faithlessness." So we answer together: "Here we are. We come to You, for You are the LORD our God." We acknowledge our guilt, and we thank You for Your mercy.

Like Wisdom calling out at the crossroads, You speak plainly to us in the busy places of our lives. Help us stop and listen. Teach us to receive Your instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than pure gold. Open our ears before we open our phones, and make Your Word the first voice we hear each day.

Lord Jesus, we count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing You. We do not want a righteousness of our own, but the righteousness from God that comes through faith in You. Free us from the weight of past failures and past successes. Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, we press on toward the goal. Remind us that our citizenship is in heaven, and fill us with eager hope as we await the day You will transform our lowly bodies to be like Your glorious body. In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen.