Four prayers

Howard Thurman, Renita Weems, Cole Arthur Riley and Katie Geneva Cannon with soulful wisdom for a Friday.

As I prepared to pray this morning, I was looking for wisdom. The more I work with individual church communities and write about the need for us to be transformed ourselves as part of the repair and transformation of the world … the more I am recognizing that is true also for me.

I need to — really, I get to — be open to deep self-examination and listening to God’s voice and attend to where I am participating in my own captivity to the culture, the state, and my own wants that do not serve me disguised as needs I tell myself I must have.

Howard Thurman, Renita Weems, Cole Arthur Riley, Katie Geneva Cannon

I did a little searching and I found these four prayers which I offered at the beginning of the 6 am Pacific meditation moment. For the rest of the morning, they have been echoing in my heart … so I thought I would put them out for your prayer and consideration … or if they don’t fit, feel free to move along.

“Spirit of the Living God,
Dismantle in me what is false.
Build in me what is true.
Where I cling to comfort,
Teach me surrender.
Where I hoard power,
Teach me service.
Let my transformation
Be seed and root and flower
For others.” - Howard Thurman

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“O God,
I bring to You my weary spirit,
My tired bones and aching heart.
Breathe into me
Courage to let go of what no longer serves.
Grant me wisdom
To embrace the me I am becoming.
May Your justice shape my voice.
May Your mercy soften my heart.
And may Your power
Make me new.” - Adapted from the Rev. Dr. Renita Weems

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“God of quiet revolutions,
Turn over the stones in my soul.
Unearth the hidden places
Where bitterness takes root.
Grow in me gentleness and fierce love.
Let my transformation not be loud,
But sure.
Not showy,
But sacred.” - Adapted from Cole Arthur Riley

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“Holy One,
Teach me to do the work my soul must have.
Work that heals.
Work that liberates.
Work that transforms me from the inside out.
Break the chains I carry unseen.
Raise me up in dignity,
And let me live in the light of my calling.” - Inspired by the Rev. Dr. Katie Geneva Cannon’s teaching on moral transformation