Make Me

Today is my birthday, which means my first book, Recess with Jesus, is FREE in the Kindle store all weekend!  Grab a copy and tell a friend.  (And if you'd be so kind, tell millions of friends by leaving a review online.  Please?  Seriously, it's my birthday.)  

Seriously, though, it is my birthday, which is an opportunity for me for some reflection, some quiet, and a bit of heartfelt prayer.

My prayer on this day is rather a simple one.  It is this:

Lord, make me.

Make me.  This is the day that 28 years ago, You, Lord, made me into this world.  Today, here I stand praying for You to do it again.  Praying for You to make me anew, as I was so many years ago.  Restore me, Lord, to Your original creation.  Create in me the already created.  Deepen my faith.  Strengthen my discipline.  Increase my love.  On this day, out of all of the others, Lord, creation means something different to me.  Because on this day, I was created.  Create me again.

I'm looking around, Lord, and there's much to be repaired.  So much torn.  So much worn.  So much falling short of all that once was in me, and I know it used to be there, but somewhere in the midst of this life, so much has been eaten away.  Make me new, Lord.

There are things I love about the way You made me.  Things I treasure about my intricate design.  And things I'm staring at in the mirror that I've broken and I don't know how I could ever get them back, Lord, unless You set Your hand to work remaking me.  Unless Your healing touch comes down to restore all that I haven't been but was created to be.  All that I am, when none of this other junk gets in the way.

It's an interesting day, Lord, looking back.  To know this is the day You set aside to make me into Your world, after forming me ever so gently for eight months in the womb.  After knitting me together in secret, You chose today to bring me forth.  It's cool to think about.  And very sobering.  Because I wonder, Daddy, if I'm getting anywhere near where You intended me to be.  Move with me, Lord, and let's go there.  And along the way, remake me.

My body is broken.  My spirit is weak.  Fear is my companion; questions, my good friends.  I have everything in the world, it seems, to give but it starts with today, giving my brokenness.  Giving my failings.  Giving my insecurities.  Giving my fear.  Giving my weakness.  Giving my questions to You, Lord, knowing that You will receive them in tender mercy, redeem them, and restore Your daughter as she was created to be.  By Your magnificent hand.

And so there is today, a day on which You created me and a day on which I am taking this unique opportunity to ask You, in the spirit of creation and with honor, mercy, and love, to make me again.  Make me new.  Make me whole.  Make me Yours, Lord.

Make me.

In the same spirit of my prayer, let me share with you a song from Sidewalk Prophets called, "Keep Making Me."  It is one that on a day like today, I cannot stop singing over and over and over in my mind.  While I am praying for God to make me anew, to restore me, to redeem my failings, and to make me whole - in body, in mind, in spirit, in heart, and in love - this, too, is my prayer:

Make me broken, so I can be healed.  'Cause I'm so calloused and now I can't feel.  I want to run to You with heart wide open.  Make me broken.

Make me empty, so I can be filled.  'Cause I'm still holding onto my will.  And I'm completed when You are with me.  Make me empty.  

Til You are my one desire

Til You are my one true love

Til You are my breath, my everything,

Lord, please keep making me.

Make me lonely, so I can be Yours.  'Til I want no one more than You, Lord.  'Cause in the darkness, I know You will hold me.  Make me lonely.

Til You are my one desire
Til You are my one true love
Til You are my breath, my everything,
Lord, please keep making me.