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A Prayer by Martin Luther King, Jr.

05 Nov

A Prayer by Martin Luther King, Jr.

God, we thank you for the inspiration of Jesus. Grant that we will love you with all our hearts, souls, and minds, and love our neighbors as we love ourselves, even our enemy neighbors. And we ask you, God, in these days of emotional tension, when the problems of the world are gigantic in extent and chaotic in detail, to be with us in our going out and our coming in, in our rising up and in our lying down, in our moments of joy and in our moments of sorrow, until the day when there shall be no sunset and no dawn. Amen.”

Dear God, my wife read me this prayer last night, so I decided to find it and capture it for this morning. It seemed appropriate.

So, Father, I thank you for the inspiration of Jesus. I thank you for grace and mercy through Jesus. I thank you that you cannot see my sin through Jesus’s blood. Thank you that Jesus actually lived among us and taught us so much. Thank you that he showed us your way.

Help me to love you with everything I have today. My heart, that it will be healed and worship you through that healing. My mind, that it will be discerning and wise and look to see your direction for me in every moment. My strength, that I will take the body you’ve given me and use it as a blessing for others in your power. And my soul, that I will take the redeemed core you gave me and offer it to you as a living sacrifice that it might be shared with others.

Help me to love every person I come across today, both in-person and in my thoughts. Help me to love them with my words. Help me to love them with my actions. Help me to love sacrificially. Help me to love generously. That includes people who are at cross purposes with me. That includes people who frustrate me. Help me to be everything you want me to be for them. And of course, it includes my wife. Love her through me.

And walk with me today. Through every situation I encounter, be very present and there. Make me mindful of you and that I am taking you into the world. That you want to use me and your church that we might be your kingdom and will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Let there be peace today. Let there be peace around our nation. Let there be peace in Ukraine. Let there be peace in the Middle East. Let there be peace in Africa and South America. Let there be peace in North and Central American countries that refugees are fleeing. Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 5, 2024 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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MLK

16 Jan

Dear God, it’s the day we observe the birth and life of Martin Luther King, Jr. This year, it is January 16. The actual day was yesterday, in 1929. Ninety-four years ago. Conceivably, he could still be alive today but for what happened 55 years ago this year on April 4.

I run a nonprofit that serves low-income people. I’ve sometimes been asked why our nonprofit observes MLK and not President’s Day. It’s a good question. I haven’t had a good answer for it, but I actually took some time to think about it this morning, and I think this picture exemplifies why I put honoring him on a different level than honoring presidents. He was willing to purposefully put himself in danger and jeopardy for the sake of others. While the men who have been president have often sacrificed to get the office, they were doing it as much for themselves as they were for the country. But my perception is that MLK was willing to use his political capital and spend it on others. He risked things that I don’t believe more than a few presidents risked. He could have stayed at home, written books, and make great speeches. Instead, he went to Birmingham, got arrested for trying to stand up for others and then, when eight white pastors wrote public statement while he was in jail, rebuking him and his followers, he wrote one of the most eloquent pieces of literature I’ve ever read (Letter from a Birmingham Jail).

So here I am. I have political capital in my small community. How do I use it? Do I make myself uncomfortable for others? Do I use it for them, or do I use it for me? I was asked to spend some of my capital this weekend for something that I didn’t think was a wise use of it (and it didn’t fit into this sort of category so I have no regrets). That was an easy no. But are there other things that your Holy Spirit puts on my heart that I decline? Do I really care about others, or do I just care so long as it’s not too inconvenient for me?

Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit, please guide me. Speak to me. Give me ears to hear. Give me eyes to see. I know MLK wasn’t perfect. I know he had weakness and sin in his life. I do too. I also know that he seemed to really love you. He seemed to not only be able to hear your Holy Spirit directing him, but also willing to respond and obey. I hate to pray this because I am afraid of what it would mean for me, but give me that ability and willingness too.

Amen

 
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Posted by on January 16, 2023 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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