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Sow for yourselves righteousness,

      reap steadfast love;

break up your fallow ground,

   for it is time to seek the LORD,

that He may come

and rain righteousness upon you.

                   Hosea 10. 12

(What am I sowing? What am I seeking?

Life is very different

        --it cannot remain the same--

   when we seek the LORD.

God seeps in and alters our choices,

   what we do, how we respond,

   what we love and how we love,

and ultimately what fruit God bears

        in our lives and through us.

God changes our hearts

                 but not in isolation.

Everyone around us

  and those we don't even know

  are impacted for generations.

The seeds we plant

        keep on producing fruit

        far beyond our lifetimes.)

O LORD,

Please help us

to be aware and responsive

    to the fallow ground around us.

Empower us to break up the hardness,

      nurture the soil of souls,

sow Your Word, love and grace,

and cover those around us

                       with prayer.

Help us to take root downward

  that You, O God, bear fruit upward

        in unexpected ways and lives,

knowing that most fruit

    we will never see this side of life.

But we can trust You

     to bring Your glory to this.