Every Day I Pray
By Alicia Reese
January 31, 2023
Somehow we are already on the threshold of the second month of this new year. How has the beginning of 2023 been for you so far?
In my family, already we have had a loved one in the ICU, two who have gotten engaged, one in the midst of a divorce, one who is expecting their first child, but is a high-risk pregnancy, and a myriad of other joys and concerns. Every year of life is a bittersweet mixture of celebrations and sorrows, beginnings and endings, but this year, it seems that bittersweetness was determined to be there from the start.
It is no surprise that I have frequently found myself talking to God. Often I don’t feel I have the words to converse with my creator and that’s ok. Small sacred spaces of silence are just what I need sometimes. But other times, I want so badly to be able to put into words my thoughts, my feelings, my hopes, my queries, and my intercessions, but I just come up short. And so, I have found myself pulling books from shelves at random, searching for another’s words that might give voice to all those things I cannot.
Today I pulled out the book Every Day I Pray by Iyanla Vanzant, and today I make her prayer my own…“Prayer for Faith”
Dear God,
In every difficulty remind me that faith in you will stop the arrows of the adversary.
Remind me that faith in you can move mountains and people.
Remind me that, with faith in you, I gain strength and vision.
Remind me that, with faith in you, I may not know what you will do, but as long as I know what you can do, as long as I have faith that you will do your perfect will in the perfect way, I will be just fine.
Remind me to let faith in you be my guide, my protection, my shield and the light on my path.
Remind me that faith in you will bring peace in the midst of the storm.
Faith will answer my questions.
Faith will open my path.
Faith will guide my thoughts.
Remind me that regardless of what appears, I can always depend on you because you, God, are faithful.
And So It Is!
I am thankful for this reminder and affirmation of the strength my faith can provide and that God is a constant loving presence in my life.
God can hold and handle all the bittersweetness we may struggle to navigate or make sense of.
I pray this prayer may be a loving reminder to you as well.
Amen.
