Prayer Regarding God's Presence

Spurred by continued reflection of Jonah 1 and 2. 1/29/08

God's Presence
Tonight Lord we want to pray and thank you for your presence,
But first we have something to confess,
You see, we are very much like Jonah,
Our confession is not us harboring an ungrateful heart or an unappreciative attitude towards your presence,
No, our confession is much more scandalous than that,
Our confession is us not wanting you present,
Our confession is us not wanting you near us,
We are like Jonah,
When You are with us,
When You speak to us,
We, like Jonah run,
We try to flee from You,
We attempt to escape Your presence,
We wish we were absent from You,
So today help us to take the first step of genuine thankfulness for your presence by no longer running from our presence
We need You,
We need You present with us,
Help us to come and be present with You,
Help us to talk to You honestly,
There is no use in carrying on this masquerade of insincerity,
You are present with us,
Help us to be present with You,
Finally Lord, as contradictory as it may appear in light of our endless efforts to run and hide,
We thank You for chasing us,
We thank You for pursuing us,
We thank You for finding us here tonight,
We thank You for Your presence.