7 Prayers That Work

Dear Lord God, You forgive us when we confess our sins, and you give grace when we confess the sins of our ancestors-- of our family and our city and our country. So I confess the great wickedness of our nation at oppressing the poor, marginalizing women, minorities, the elderly, and the ill, enslaving the African-Americans, red-lining poor communities, indenturing and imprisoning the uneducated and underprivileged. I confess our systemic white privilege, even as I want to believe I am not a benefactor of it. I confess our sins of racism and segregation, even as I say that I have not overtly participated in any of it. It is our heritage, and we are wrong to minimize its legacy. I confess the church's sins of politicizing moral issues, of drawing party lines through issues of compassion, grace, and mercy-- of using topics of mass incarceration, death penalty, immigration, life, and welfare to divide party lines and provide ease and security for the privileged...

Holy Spirit, Give me the faith to pray big prayers. I want to experience you working miracles, healing my emotions, transforming my mind, softening my heart, directing my destiny. Give me courage to fight for others instead of against others. I want to see you reconciling races, restoring relationships, reuniting families, bringing closure, healing wounds, saving souls. Give me the confidence to believe your timing is perfect. I want peace while believing in a future, accepting disappointment, striving for faith, enduring hardship, conquering temptation. Give me You. Amen.

Dear Lord, Thank you for the rain and especially for not flooding my basement. Your mercies never fail. And apparently, the rain doesn't, either. But you know best. Amen.

Lord, I'm facing something hard. Help me be brave. I don't want to worry about appearances or image-- I only want to reflect your love and mission for the world. That's pretty scary. It means I must live in you and outside myself. I must seek your will, trust your voice, obey your commands. Help me be brave. Bravery comes from strength. Strength comes from hardship. Hardship surfaces with opportunity and destiny. You understand hardship, and you understand me. You certainly know my destiny because you created me for it. Help me to rest in you and the courage you provide, to do anything you ask, go anywhere you call, say anything you tell me to. Amen. "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:9)