Search me

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts.” – Psalm 139:23

My daughter’s gleeful voice was on the answering machine. “I did it! I qualified for Nationals in the 50 Free!” Several days later we had a chance to talk about this milestone in her life. Maria said, almost apologetically, “I prayed so hard before the race, Mom, and asked God for strength to swim fast enough….Was it wrong of me to tell God how much I wanted to qualify for Nationals?”

I assured Maria that it’s never wrong to tell God how deeply we desire something, because God already knows, anyway! The psalmist reminds us that God knows what we are going to say even before we open our mouths. God is not aloof from our daily lives. We worship an intimate Savior who lives both in and through us.

Holy God, your perfection frightens us sometimes, and we worry needlessly that you might discern what is in our mind and heart. Open us to the fresh wind of your Spirit in this Lenten season, that we might land at the foot of your cross. Amen.

This message is adapted from a stewardship devotion written by the Rev. Mary Ann Moller-Gunderson for Women of the ELCA in 2003.