may we abide

Father,

You are the Gardener of our lives. The great vinedresser, you sees our needs even when we don't. You tend and  you care to the parts of our lives that need pruning. When we are in the midst of an abundance of mess, Father, you see past what is overgrown in our lives and reveal to us what must be cut back.

Your providential care is there in all our moments. When we can't see the branches in our lives that are withered and dead, You remove them. When our branches are not bearing fruit, You cut them back. This is hard, Father, because our branches come from us. We've put them there because they make us comfortable. But You know what we need, and when we don't bear fruit, help us to trust Your pruning shears.

Father, we must abide in You. Help us to understand this, O Lord... what it means to sit with You, to be so close to You we can feel Your sweet presence and Your everlasting love. Because to abide means to follow, to be ruled by, to hold fast. This can only be done in You for us to live in accordance with Your will.

Good, good Father, help us to abide.

Amen

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