20. Prayers of a Life in Tension by Stephen W. Hiemstra

Good Shepherd,

We praise you for the gifts of Eden—fertile land, food and water, and the security of your presence. Keep our hands busy; guard our minds; and give us hearts that yearn only for you. Forgive us that we are not fit for Eden—that we are not satisfied with your gifts; that we have not valued your presence; that our hands have been idle, our minds set on physical things, and our hearts easily tempted by crass things. Restore us—make us fit custodians of your garden. Set in our hearts a yearning for your presence and in our minds a hunger and thirst for your righteousness that our hands may praise you with good works all the days of our lives. Through the power of your Holy Spirit and in Jesus’ name, Amen.