A Prayer for the 6th Sunday of Easter - by David Lose

This post comes from ...In the Meantime, a blog by Luther Seminary professor David Lose.

Dear God,

You have called us to love, which sounds easy but is often hard.

You have called us to obedience, which sounds hard but is sometimes easy.

You have called us to obedient love, which sounds like an oxymoron, but really isn’t.

You have called us to loving obedience, which sounds crazy but leads to peace.

So help us, dear God, to love, and help us to obey.

Help us, that is, to look to the needs of others and respond with the compassion we see in Jesus.

Help us to ask whether what we are called to do, choose to do, or want to do is motivated from love.

If it is, give us the power to do it and keep at bay those forces that would hinder us from obeying your command to love one another.

If it is not, prevent us.

It’s that simple, and that difficult. Help us, dear God.

Amen.