A Prayer of Discernment (Thomas Merton)

MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going.

I do not see the road ahead of me.

I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.

And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.

I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.

And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.

I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

- Thomas Merton, "Thoughts in Solitude"

Ian Morgan Cron read this prayer last week at RECREATE. It immediately struck a chord with all of us in the room. By virtue of the internet, I googled it and posted it to my Facebook account. Within minutes, I had comments and affirmations from friends back home and around the world. It struck a chord with them too.

To top that off Audrey Assad and Matt Maher sang a new song they've written called "Restless" based upon the writing of St. Augustine (Restless I am restless 'til I rest in you) that seemed to flow along the same lines. The combination of this prayer and that song were the highlights of the week for me.

I certainly feel that most of the world seems very restless at the moment. Something is stirring and we don't know what it is. We as believers have the Holy Spirit to be our discerning light and my prayer since then has been for complete surrender to Him and let this restlessness be the beginning of something new and fresh in my life.

What are you restless about these days?