God, you’ve done it again. You’ve set the table, straightened the chairs, and bid us come.

Plain is your beauty before us.

IF-Gathering-2015

We are utterly unworthy of this invitation, and yet here we see our names, and our seats, and our sisters.

You’ve been expecting us.

All of us, and each of us, and even us.

We are yours.

And we belong.

Thank you for calling us here, for meeting us here, for setting a place for us here.

We are wide-eyed and wide-awake as we reach for our chairs and brace ourselves for your light.

Don’t hold out, and don’t hold back. We are ready to believe you for more.

Prepare us to obey, to lean our collective weight into something lasting so that we might see giants tumble against the force of it all.

We know that any work you desire to do through us must first begin within us, so give us hearts that are willing to shift and shatter as we tune our lives to the sound of your roar.

Our mustard seeds? We bring them.

And soon, in unison, we will drop them to the table and watch them dance like hail through the space that we share in you, the One who promises to never waste our faith.

Remind us, oh God, that we are only responsible for our obedience, not for any kind of success, and that when the lights come up we are to be found bringing glory to your great name.

And it’s in that name we pray today, Lord Jesus.

Amen.