A Pentecost Prayer by Joyce Rupp

 

And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. (Acts2:2) Persistent Visitor of Grace, come as a tender breeze or a fierce wind through the opened window of my soul.  Greet me with the necessary assurance  that I have enough love and genuine care  to extend compassion for what aches in myself  and in the distressed people homing in my heart. Come like a sweeping wind through my being.  Gather the best of my love to your expansive love.  Carry this on the wide wings of your sacred breath  to places, people, and creatures crying out to be freed  from whatever it is that chides, hurts, and worries them. Stir up a passionate vision for a positive future.  Vibrate in my spirit and transmit your message  through the uncertain steps of my pathway.  Increase hope for a peaceful unity of spirit  to grow stronger within our troubled humanity. Come with your tornadic, Pentecost-force. Lift away clouds of human greed and apathy that rob the lands of what is most precious and steal water and air’s rightful cleanliness.  Come as a constant, insistent motivator  to the part of myself that continually requires  your resonant, transforming presence.   Persuade me to change whatever I must  in order to be more heartfully yours. Come as a refreshing breeze of the early morning.  Dawn in my heart with the kind of inhaling joy  that only you can give to the sleepy soul.  Return in the evening as the exhaling stillness of dusk.  Lead me to gather the bounty for which to give thanks. O wild, beguiling, pushy, playful, determined Spirit,  I am ready for you to entice my heart further,  to enter into a deeper and more complete communion with your gusty and life-giving presence.  Abundant peace, Joyce Rupp

"In the chaos, the Spirit came with an energy beyond their boldest imagination. This coming changed the disciples' attitudes and motivated them with enthusiasm and hope. They moved from being weak and discouraged people to being people with inner vitality."  (May I Have This Dance)