Prayer

Lord,
I am not good at praying.
I have the lip of prayer,
I can find and form the words and speak them well.
But I have not the heart for prayer,
nor have I the ear for prayer.

I ask, Lord, for patience
and for stillness before you,
for surely true prayer begins
when I set aside my own agenda.
I shall not need to be so articulate,
nor is there any great distance for my words to cross.

All I need (all!)
is honesty and humility
and to be able to feel and to know
how close you are.

Nothing is hidden from you.  I have been adept
at self-presentation;  sometimes
I may even convince myself.  But you see
into the innermost depths of me,
into the places I dare not visit myself;
and still you love me.

I shall light a candle,
and sit for a while
with the dusk closing around me.

Grant me the grace, Lord,
to receive your love,
and then to pray.