Prayer for October 29, 2021

Prayer for October 29, 2021: Please pray with me. God we follow, I’m a bit frustrated. I keep coming upon people who want to put themselves in place of you. They want to be in control. They want to dictate to others. They want to impose their will on others. They want reality to conform to their wishes. Oh wait, that’s just the story of all of humanity since the very beginning. Forgive me for just noticing this. Wait, what’s that? I’m just as guilty too? Little old me? How is that possible? Never mind, I know. I just don’t like to admit it Lord. It’s so much better when I can point at others and see their obvious sin and shout out — “their guilty!” “They’re a hypocrite!” “They are evil!”. But they are me. And I am them. Grant me mercy to see the image of God in those that I accuse. Grant me grace to love the unlovable. Grant me faith to let go of the mirage of control that I think I have over my life and my surroundings. Amen.

Call to action: Identify your enemies. Who are they? Now list out why they are your enemies. Make a good list of all the things they are guilty of. All the sins that you can think of about them. Really go at it in how you can dehumanize them. Now look at that list — examine it. You made it. What does this say about yourself? Why do the things on the list bother you — really bother you?

Originally published at https://pastormatthewbest.com on October 29, 2021.