A Prayer For Today
by Chris Pan, Executive Director
For today’s devotional, I just wanted to share a prayer that I came across while working my way through Pete Scazerro’s devotional Emotionally Healthy Relationships Day by Day, A 40-Day Journey to Deeply Change Your Relationships. In the book, Pete quotes a prayer from Richard Rohr, a priest and author who has been a conference speaker at Hawaiian Islands Ministries. So, for today, will you join me for a few minutes of silence and reflection before God, then pray this prayer below, at your own pace?
I thank You, Lord Jesus, for becoming a human being, so I do not have to pretend or try to be a God.
I thank You, Lord Jesus, for becoming finite and limited, so I do not have to pretend that I am infinite and limitless.
I thank You, crucified God, for becoming mortal, so I do not have to try to make myself immortal.
I thank You, Lord Jesus, for becoming inferior, so I do not have to pretend that I am superior to anyone.
I thank You for becoming weak, so I don’t have to be strong.
I thank You for being willing to be considered imperfect and strange, so I do not have to be perfect and normal.
I thank You, Lord Jesus, for being willing to be disapproved of, so I do not have to try so hard to be approved and liked.
I thank You for being considered a failure, so I do not have to give my life trying to pretend I’m a success.
I thank You for being wrong by the standards of religion and state, so I do not have to be right anywhere.
I thank You for being poor in every way, so I do not have to be rich in any way.
I thank You, Lord Jesus, for being all of the things humanity despises and fears, so I can accept myself and others in You.
(Richard Rohr from Hope Against Darkness: The Transforming Vision of St. Francis in an Age of Anxiety)
Now, take another minute or so, in silence before God. What line stood out to you the most? What does it have to say to you today? Can you sense an invitation from God for today that can prepare your heart even more for Easter?
Repeat the prayer if you like, and have a wonderful day.
