This evening we looked at a few prayers of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. while discussing the theme "Maturity of Faith"
We Are Made for That Which Is High and Noble and Good'
O God, our gracious heavenly Father, we thank thee for the inspiration of Jesus the Christ, who came to this world to show us the way. And grant that we will see in that life the fact that we are made for that which is high and noble and good. Help us to live in line with that high calling, that great destiny. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
"Grant Us Visions That Shall Lift Us"
O God our eternal Father, we praise thee for gifts of mind with which thou hast endowed us. We are able to rise out of the half-realities of the sense world to a world of ideal beauty and eternal truth. Teach us, we pray Thee, how to use this great gift of reason and imagination so that it shall not be a curse but a blessing. Grant us visions that shall lift us from worldliness and sin into the light of thine own holy presence.
Through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
"Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Us Around"
Almighty God, Thou has called us to walk for freedom, even as Thou did the Children of Israel. We pray, dear God, as we go through a wilderness of State Troopers that Thou will hold our hand. We pray, dear God, as we must go through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, that Thou will go with us and strengthen us for the task. Keep us strong. Keep us calm. Help us to love our enemy. And above all, keep the fires of freedom burning in our hearts, so that no matter what happens, ain't gonna let nobody turn us around.
Because Thou, dear God, has sent us into this place. Thou has sent us to fight, not just for ourselves, but to fight for this nation so that democracy might exist here for the whole world. Keep this vision in our hearts, and may we one day wake up and find the state of Alabama, where all men might vote, where all children might get a decent education, where every man and woman might have a job according to his (or her) abilities, and where every man and woman might live together as brothers, and violence and bloodshed and hatred and prejudice shall be no more. In Jesus' name, we pray, Amen.
"We Thank Thee for Our Foreparents"
Oh God, our gracious, heavenly Father, we thank Thee for the creative insights in the universe. We thank Thee for the lives of great saints and prophets in the past, who have revealed to us that we can stand up amid the problems and difficulties and trials of life and not give in. We thank Thee for our foreparents, who've given us something in the midst of the darkness of exploitation and oppression to keep going.
And grant that we will go on with the proper faith and the proper determination of will, so that we will be able to make a creative contribution to this world and in our lives. In the name and spirit of Jesus we pray. Amen.
"But Lord, I Must Confess That I'm Weak Now"
Lord, I'm down here trying to do what's right. I think I'm right. I think the cause that we represent is right. But Lord, I must confess that I'm weak now, I m faltering, I m losing my courage, and I can't let the people see me like this because if they see me weak and losing my courage, they will begin to get weak.
Source: Thou, Dear God, Prayers that Open Hearts and Spirits by The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Beacon Press, Boston 2012