O dear Lord, what can I say to you?
Is there any word that could come from my mouth,
any thought? any sentence?
You died for me, you gave all for my sins,
you not only became man for me
but also suffered the most cruel death for me.
Is there any response?
I wish that I could find a fitting response,
but in contemplating your holy passion and death
I can only confess humbly to you
that the immensity of your divine love
makes any response seem totally inadequate.
Your body is broken, your head wounded,
your hands and feet are split open by nails,
your side is pierced.
It is fulfilled. It is accomplished.
Sweet Lord, gracious Lord,
generous Lord, forgiving Lord,
I adore you, I praise you, I thank you.
You have made all things new
through your passion and death.
Your cross has been planted in this world
as the new sign of hope.
Let me always live under your cross, O Lord,
and proclaim the hope of your cross unceasingly.
Amen.

-Henri Nouwen

Father God, I ask You to give me complete knowledge of Your will and to give me spiritual wisdom and understanding so that the way I live will always honor and please You, and my life will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, help me grow as I learn to know You better and better.

I also pray that I will be strengthened with all Your glorious power so I will have all the endurance and patience I need. May I be filled with joy, always thanking You, Father. You have enabled me to share in the inheritance that belongs to Your people, who live in the light. For You have rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of Your dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.

Thank You, God! Amen.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.

In yesterday’s meditation, we read the story of Jesus’ betrayal in order to prepare for worship. Imagine what it would feel like to be betrayed as He was. Yet on the cross, He prayed that God would forgive the people who crucified Him.

Today, we pray a difficult prayer, one that follows Jesus’ example. It is a portion of a longer prayer written by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic, who was a Serbian bishop who spoke out against Naziism, was arrested, and taken to Dachau, a Nazi concentration camp. Like Jesus, Nikolai had many reasons to hate and curse his enemies, but he chose instead to pray this prayer for them.

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.

Enemies have driven me into your embrace more than friends have. Friends have bound me to earth; enemies have loosed me from earth and have demolished all my aspirations in the world.

Enemies have made me a stranger in worldly realms and an extraneous inhabitant of the world.

Just as a hunted animal finds safer shelter than an unhunted animal does, so have I, persecuted by enemies, found the safest sanctuary, having ensconced myself beneath Your tabernacle, where neither friends nor enemies can slay my soul.

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless and do not curse them.

They, rather than I, have confessed my sins before the world. They have punished me, whenever I have hesitated to punish myself. They have tormented me, whenever I have tried to flee torments. They have scolded me, whenever I have flattered myself. They have spat upon me, whenever I have filled myself with arrogance.

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.

Amen.

Praying God’s word is powerful. His word always accomplishes what He desires, and it will accomplish His work in us, too!

The apostle Paul prayed the following prayer for people at a church in the city of Ephesus (which is in modern-day Turkey). Some of the pronouns (his, your) have been changed to make the prayer a personal conversation between you and God; the unchanged version can be found here. If you would like to pray this prayer for other people, simply click the link above and replace “your” in the passage with a person’s name.

For this reason I kneel before You, the Father, from whom Your whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of Your glorious riches You may strengthen me with power through Your Spirit in my inner being, so that Christ may dwell in my heart through faith. And I pray that I, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that I may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to You, who are able to do immeasurably more than all I ask or imagine, according to Your power that is at work within me, to You be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Lord, You know what is best; let this be done or that be done as You please. Give what You will, as much as You will, when You will. Do with me as You know best, as will most please You, and will be for Your greater honor. Place me where You will and deal with me freely in all things. I am in Your hand; turn me about whichever way You will. Behold, I am Your servant, ready to obey in all things. Not for myself do I desire to live, but for You – would that I could do this worthily and perfectly!

Give us, O Lord, steadfast hearts that cannot be dragged down by false loves; give us courageous hearts that cannot be worn down by trouble; give us righteous hearts that cannot be sidetracked by unholy or unworthy goals. Give to us also, our Lord and God, understanding to know you, diligence to look for you, wisdom to recognize you, and a faithfulness that will bring us to see you face to face.
Amen.

When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, He wasn’t just giving them the words of a specific prayer, He was teaching them a pattern for prayer. His pattern includes praise to God, praying for the world to be set right and God’s Kingdom to be advanced, prayer that our daily needs would be met, confession and forgiveness, requests for guidance and protection, and closing praise to God. The closing praise is also acknowledgement of, and submission to, God’s unique authority and power.

Including all of these elements in our prayers helps us to pray beyond ourselves and align our heart with God’s desires. The following is a paraphrase of the prayer Jesus taught. Would you pray it to God, pausing for a moment at the end of each line to consider what you have prayed?

Our Father, above us and all around us,
May your unspeakable Name be revered.

Here to earth, may your kingdom come.
Here on earth, may your will be done as it is in heaven.

Give us today our bread for today.
And forgive us our wrongs as we forgive those who wrong us.

Lead us away from the time of trial.
But liberate us from the evil.

For the kingdom is yours and yours alone,
And the power is yours and yours alone,
And the glory is yours and yours alone.
Amen.