Sometimes in life, it’s hard to pray. You don’t know where to start, or you just don’t feel like it, or things just seem too hard. We know that the early church folks devoted themselves to prayers. But I’m sure they, like us, had many tough days. Instead of giving you our ideas, we thought we’d borrow three great prayers from history that you might be able to lean on. If all else fails, praying like this is not a bad place to start:
The Lord’s Prayer
Matthew 6:9-13 New International Version (NIV)
“This, then, is how you should pray:
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
The Serenity Prayer
By Reinhold Neibuhr
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
forever in the next.
Amen.
And finally, one of my favorite movies of all time – Fiddler on the Roof. Tevye talks to God throughout, but his folksy, honest conversations never cease to inspire me. “But what do you have against my horse!?”
Lord, help.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Joel
Joel Searby
