Pause for Prayer: MLK Day 1/16


    Hank Willis Thomas’ 22′ bronze sculpture on Boston Common, unveiled on 1/13/2023, in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King

 

From the depths of your heart, Lord,
   help me overcome my prejudice,
   my narrow-minded thinking,
   my  bias, bigotry and rash judgments
— and help me overcome the temptation to think
   that none of these faults are mine… 

With the grace of your mercy, Lord,
   help me overcome my selfishness,
   my jealousy and greed,
   my pride and self-importance,
   my careless disregard of others’ needs
— and help me overcome the thought
   that I‘m above such things… 

With the power of your Spirit, Lord,
   help me overcome my laziness,
   my lustful thoughts and longings,
   my apathy and envy
   and my ungoverned appetites
— and help me overcome the self-evaluation
   in which none of this applies to me… 

With the justice of your word, Lord,
   help me overcome my tendency:
   to stretch the truth, to cheat and lie;
   to take what isn’t mine;
   to deny what’s due to others;
— and help me overcome the notion
   that I’d never succomb to any of the above…
  
With the power of your love, Lord,
   help me overcome my fears,
   my worries and anxieties,
   my doubts and my uncertainties,
   my lack of trust in you and others:
        deliver me from things I think
        I’ll never overcome…  

With the strength of your arm, Lord, 
   help me overcome what keeps me down,
   what holds me back,
   what slows me up,
   what locks me in:
      the inertia that disables me
      and holds my progress captive..

With all the grace that’s yours to give, Lord
   help us overcome what keeps us
   from your presence and your power,
   your mercy and compassion,
   your healing, peace and freedom…


Amen.

Here’s a powerful arrangement of a well known song.

If a widget doesn’t appear below, click here!

We Shall Overcome, arranged by Tom Trenney 


  

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