The majesty of this world, the balance of nature, the systems of the human body, and the universes left undiscovered by our eyes are evidence of your engagement. You are a Father who desires the best for His children. You labored over every detail and brought it, and us, to life so that it may be enjoyed. There is no denying your hand in all that we know as good. You are a perfect Father and your love offers us a leash that sometimes is so long that in it we find ourselves tangled. We fail to rely on you, our perfect mentor, for guidance on how to live despite the direction you offer through the Word, the prophets, our Savior, and your Holy Spirit. We pursue lives that we design for ourselves not considering how short it falls from the one You have designed for us. I am guilty of this, and, sadly, will continue to fall prey to the desires of this world. Astray is where this world will lead us. We know this, because we’ve learned this lesson so many times. So, why do we persist? What is it that makes far less valuable things seem so rewarding? How is it that the unmistakable quenching that only You can provide can be overshadowed by the insatiable desires of this life? How many times must we learn?
Thank you for always being there, and for not judging or remembering our failures and our decisions to first pursue what we want. Thank you for being a perfect mentor, and for the example you set in Christ, who, as a man was a protégé, a friend, and a mentor. We saw Him pour into others, seeing in them what they were unable to see in themselves. You encouraged them to be their best and were an anchor to them in life’s storms. Relationships are your creation, and we know how important they are to you. You provide us with all types of relationships, but they can only be as fruitful as we are willing to engage in them. Why do we fail to fully engage and cultivate meaningful relationships? Why do we fail to seek the counsel of earthly mentors who can, as Jesus did, call us to the life that You designed for us? Why do we engage in relationships at times that are superficial, or that fail to hold us accountable to a meaningful life? Why, also, do we fail to see our responsibility in mentoring others to live the life you designed for them? This lack of purposeful engagement allows us to wander, and to tangle ourselves up in the long leash of ‘free will’. You tell us in Proverbs 12:15, “The way of the fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.” We also learn in Proverbs 12:26 that “A righteous man is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.”
Father, we seek your counsel, that we would desire to hear your truth, that we would be willing to hear it through the counsel of your Holy Spirit and through the mentors in our lives that speak your truth. We ask that you make it clear to us who those mentors are and to have the courage to engage them and take to heart their counsel. Likewise, we ask that you continue to bless our lives with deep, meaningful peer relationships. Help us and encourage us to go below the surface of fun, hobbies, and superficiality to engage in the kind of soul-level vulnerability that encourages us to be our best. Give us hearts to not just be mentored, but to mentor others, too. Help us to see the protégés in our lives and to mentor and lead them to be their best. Forgive us when we ignore our responsibility to be a mentor, friend, and protégé, but instead take the path of ease and disengagement.
Heal our suffering world. Call us into meaningful relationship with others so that we might be a blessing to each other, and, one relationship at a time lead each other into the lives that would make You proud. We know the antidote to our suffering world is Truth. We ask for Your truth to be known, shared, and applied in love one relationship at a time. Give us hearts willing to engage. In Your holy name I pray – Amen!
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