Open the doors of our hearts

Today is The Second Sunday of Easter — Easter Day being the First Sunday of Easter. Our Collect for today has some words that I often use in my prayers — they’re words I use when I pray for help in discerning God’s will for my life.

“Open, or close, the doors of my heart” seem to be words that are often on my lips. I pray that God will open the doors, or make the way easier, if the choices I’m making are right: and close the doors, or make the way harder, if I’m making the wrong choices.

This way of praying does seem to have worked for me in the past. Whenever I’m struggling with deciding which of various options are the best for me, I’ll keep trying the doors, or exploring the choices, and trust that God will open or close them as he sees fit, to guide me into doing as he would want me to do.

It always amazes me how often, after struggling to work out the correct way to take, things just feel “right” when I’ve made the right choice — the doors open readily, the way is easier. The opposite is frequently true too; when I’ve made the wrong choice, things seem much more complicated — the doors become barriers and are closed, the way is harder.

I do believe that I will always have the ability, the free-will, to break through the barriers, the closed doors. But I’ve felt that if I have force things in that way, I’m usually going wrong, and the way I’m choosing isn’t the best for me.

Unfortunately I can no longer remember who it was that taught me this way of praying for guidance in the discernment process; my memory for those type of details is very poor. But I do remember that it was taught to me because it was a way that person found helpful, and hoped I would too. And that has been the case, I have found it very helpful. Next time you’re struggling to make a decision, and wondering just which way God wants you to go, you might like to try it for yourself. It worked for the person who taught me, it seems to work for me, and it just might work for you too.

Risen Christ,
for whom no door is locked, no entrance barred:
open the doors of our hearts,
that we may seek the good of others
and walk the joyful road of sacrifice and peace,
to the praise of God the Father.

Additional Collect for The Second Sunday of Easter
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council