photo: flickr cc/ john steven fernandez
The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. – from James 5:16 The Message
A prayer.
Give me grace because I’m angry.
Give me grace because I’m tired.
Give me grace because I need the good news of your love.
Right now.
Give me grace to not grow bitter.
Change is coming. Change is inevitable. Change is slow. And Lord, please remember Ferguson.
Dear Jesus are all these stories true? The real life testimonies of terror?
The babies, the girls, the believers, the black men …Jesus – I know you see the black men.
Give me grace to not give up.
Give Me Grace to #gothere
In love of course
But just the same
Give me grace to uncompromisingly walk my faith
Call me out when I use it as a crutch to support my biases.
I don’t want a truth unless it’s wrapped in you.
Give Me grace to hear another side
Because all stories belong to you.
The original writer and poet
creator and collector of all things lovely.
Give me grace to express how I feel and not let the onslaught of information dull my senses.
I want to feel.
Please Lord
Give me grace to feel.
Because you’re in the middle of it all. Between the gentrified hi-rise and the poor folks pantry, the aids ridden grandma and the juiced out junkie. The downtown diva and the power-hungry terrorist. You’re there.
Give me grace to see them . To feel.
Because we hear these stories and still rattle off posts about crème brûlée and create platforms with You as pillar
Pall bearing a casket of glory – Going. No. Where.
It’s got to be 100% about you. Or not at all.
photo : flickr cc / leland francisco
Give me grace to listen. To engage my senses for the cause of Christ. To discern your truth, Taste and see that You are good – lend and lift my voice to speak when called.
Give me grace to wield my sword and go to war. Prayer helps. And right now it’s the only weapon in my arsenal. Give me grace to fight.
Give me grace to mind my mission, in my family and community without forgetting my humanity makes my garden global.
Give me grace to know water is water. Is water. And all people deserve to have it. From Detroit to Dakar. From Brooklyn to Babylon. Give Me grace to help share the water that promises eternal life.
Give me grace to see my neighbor. Yes. The one who sells drugs, or smokes pot all day, the single mama with 5 kids she won’t/can’t take care of properly. Stop judging and get down to the business of serving. For the least of these. Not just the pretty these. Not the far ways these. The least of these just down the hall or across the street. The least of these on my job, in my dance class, on the bus … in cyberspace.
Give me grace to fight for justice. I want to live your peace. But I know the wrath of God is real. When all the love had been poured and the beautiful words espoused…You came into the tents knocking things over. Jesus raised a holy hell when necessary.
Give me grace to be tender and pliable. To sit silently when directed. To remain humble. Be love. To know when my words should float softly adrift a heaven bound cloud and too, when to send them aflame. Teach me Lord, how to fight.
Give Me Grace to pray for a holy righteous cleansing. A physical outpouring of your
spirit to mix things up. Pour down, bleed the beautiful on this crazy concoction of sin and death, of tears and trauma, bandits and beasts. Jesus wash it away. Jesus make it rain.
And after all this, when my heart can’t hold the price of freedom, and my flesh fails (because it will) – After I’ve done all I can and all you’ve asked, Let me offer myself to you, lay my burden down
with this prayer…
photo: flickr cc / chrisada
Give me grace.
Give me grace
Give. Me. Grace.
Let your handmaiden find grace in your sight…#GiveMeGrace
♥
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Give Me Grace : A Prayer http://t.co/ulWFkyJaAx
mmm … we do nothing of value without being bathed in His grace. I need to be reminded of this over and over, Lisha.
I need to be here …
Linda Stoll recently posted…Pure Light
and it’s all I can think of this week…#GiveMeGrace
Lord do we ever need it. Thanks for stopping by Linda!
Amen. I know, mama. This, “Give me grace to fight for justice. I want to live your peace. But I know the wrath of God is real. When all the love had been poured and the beautiful words espoused…You came into the tents knocking things over. Jesus raised a holy hell when necessary.”
WOW….you stun me into silence with the power of your words. Lord, hear our prayers.
Chelle recently posted…Godspeed-how fast is that?? (inspired by a Sunday sermon)
I want to learn how to fight…clearly Jesus worked his grace according to each situation. He’d be as gentle as a lamb one minute and raise hell fire the next. I believe there’s a very deliberate technique at play here. I’m praying for wisdom to learn Chelle. Always wisdom. Happy Sunday!
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Bleed the beautiful, yes.
Because all this blood? If it must flow, t should flow FOR something.
Sheila Seiler Lagrand recently posted…Weekend Reflection: A Black Armband
you gave me the chills Sheila. Yes! FOR something.
Amen
Praying with you, my sister. May He show us the way and give us courage to walk in it.
Lyli @3-D Lessons for Life recently posted…Together
Grateful to walk with you Lyli. Blessings to you friend.
I love your prayer, Lisha. I sure hope I get to see you at Jumping Tandem in May.
Elizabeth Stewart recently posted…Psalm 90:17…
I’m counting on it Elizabeth. Happy Sunday!
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Delighted to connect here. Please come again.
Let your handmaiden find grace in your sight…#GiveMeGrace #prayer
add your link here… http://t.co/WiVHZmmHPk
Praying with you Leisha. My heart resonates with your angst. We want to be light and salt and love. We are battling the Father of Lies. Who wants to win at all costs. He wants to take us all down with him. He wants us to spend our energy and life fighting our causes because then we will be too consumed to follow Jesus. He wants to harden our hearts. He wants us to be consumed with anger and self righteousness. But my Jesus keeps whispering . In my ear.. LAY IT DOWN. The only way to peace is to lay it down. We can share truth, defend truth, speak truth… but we cannot follow Jesus when our hearts and hands are full of self righteousness. We deserve death..yet WE have been given life and its abundance. The fight is over. Jesus won. This is grace. I thank God for you Lisha. And your heart for others. But mostly, your heart for Jesus. Praying with you.
I know that even in this Christ will be glorified but I struggle Kelly, I do. Social justice issues ignite every passion in me. As a parent, as a woman of color , as a human being. Let peace like a river pour down…on all of us. Resting in His love, dear friend, hope you’re doing the same.
[…] linking this up with Lisha Epperson’s Sunday Community at Give Me Grace where there are lots of wonderful posts to read and learn from or just be uplifted by. Please visit […]
Thabks for spreading the word….#GiveMeGrace
Girlie – as always… so much beauty – and yes, grace… found here! Let this be the cry of our hearts… all of it… every word!
~Karrilee~ recently posted…That Thing I Do Now – Vol 57
Karrilee I fwel your prays and I am carried by them today. Turning in and off for a bit to just BE with God. Enjoy your Sunday.
This is the challenge I feel at them moment. To make our faith real. To see God where we don’t really want to look. To be where we don’t really want to be. To keep hold of the belief that even if we don’t believe things will get better we know He is there and then to keep on doing what we can.
I loved this prayer of yours.
Juliet recently posted…Being blameless…if only!
Hey Juliet! This is a sruggle for me. So grateful to have a community I can share the questions with, mull over prayerful ways to move forward. Each of the comments to my posts from the past 2 days affirms His presence. Christ is on the move. i”m sure of it.
Lisha, I join you in this prayer…all of it, every part.
Lord, give me grace.
Denise J. Hughes recently posted…Why I Named My Blog “Embracing Grace & Truth”
The prayer is an offering of grace after a very rough week. Thank you for joining hands as we lay it all before Him. He is good and hears every word. #TwoOrMore Amen.
Lisha, thank you for pointing out so many ways and places that we need grace. This really spoke to me: “Give me grace to listen. To engage my senses for the cause of Christ. To discern your truth, Taste and see that You are good – lend and lift my voice to speak when called.” It’s so hard sometimes to know when to speak and when to be quiet, but I can pray even when I can do nothing else. Prayer is powerful.
Gayl Wright recently posted…Five Minute Friday: Tell
The Lord told me to write in the summer of 2011. I am a thinker and feeler but never really saw myself as a writer. But I listened The conversations He’s pulled me into have stretched me in ways I never imagined. I’m still listening and learning to speak when called. Its dedefinitey a spiritual process. And prayer is rhe biggest part of it. Love connecting with you Gayl.
I love connecting with you, too, Lisha! I had not really thought of myself as a writer either until a few months ago. Starting the blog and then Story 101 helped me to see that we all have voices that need to be used.
A beautiful prayer for grace today at #GiveMeGrace http://t.co/yfMPjXSMYN via @seespkhearmama
Give. Me. Grace. @lishaepperson http://t.co/xZTruAs2vf Linking up with Lisha’s prayer of peace. #GiveMeGrace
Lisha, Thank you for such a beautiful prayer. I pray that I not only receive grace but that I also pass it on. I pray we all do.
Amy P Boyd recently posted…Tell {Five-Minute Friday}
Amen, amen, amen….. Thank you for this, Lisha.
Patricia @ Pollywog Creek recently posted…I {LOVE} Sunday::to remember all his benefits…
I don’t want a truth unless it’s wrapped in You.#GiveMeGrace #prayer #Ferguson
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[…] #GiveMeGrace […]
We were in St. Louis last weekend with our dear friends and as we watched the news our hearts were heavy with them for their city and all that was happening not all that far from them. It is good for me to hear your voice in all these things. I am glad I found you here. I will likely be silent for a few weeks. having knee replacement surgery tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. I will be reading again when I can.
Carol Longenecker Hiestand recently posted…Earthly things like surgery and God’s Voice
Beautiful, Lisha…He blesses us with grace after grace. Thanks for hosting & God bless.
Laurie Collett recently posted…Triplets of Salvation: Restore
[…] Linking with Lisha Epperson and Give Me Grace Community […]
Such a beautiful offering to the Lord. Thank you for sharing.
NON-Superwoman recently posted…Things I’ll Miss When the Kids Grow Up
Beautiful & Amen Lisha. Amen.
Jolene Underwood (@Faith_Eyes) recently posted…The letter I am rewriting to myself
Breathtaking, and painful in it’s raw beauty. Circling with you in prayer.
Kris Camealy recently posted…A Prayer For Writers
I don’t even have words for this one, Lisha. I kept looking for lines that were my favorite, my heart, my prayer, but then they all are. So much. This one, I’ll come back to when the world feels loud and hard and too much. Give me grace.
Give me grace. Yes. This prayer from @lishaepperson: http://t.co/ex2EH4rEuw #ferguson
lisha, sorry i wasn’t here on the weekend. my computer was in the shop! ticked me off but it was speaking in tongues! words and letter came on with one tick on the key:( it needed major surgery…as in replacement of keyboard:( quicker than they tho’t it would happen so i was glad. i ache for the craziness in ferguson. for the weeping mother, for the businesses that have been looted, for the hatred that is being stirred. i can’t help but think that martin luther king would be turning in his grave:( i think longfellow wrote the words to a christmas hymn: and in despair i bowed my head, there is no peace on earth i said, for hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to man!
satan must be rejoicing but GOD will win the victory in the end. hard to believe now.
martha brady recently posted…TELL IT TO YOUR CHILDREN…
[…] this week and we should be back on schedule by tomorrow. I was sad to miss Fellowship Friday and GiveMeGrace but I’ll catch them this week with my new and functional […]
so much powerful grace here Lisha – it humbles me – from grace to uncompromisingly walk my faith to, to fight for justice – to prayer being a powerful weapon in our arsenal. So much happening in the world, our nation and communities – it’s hard to process – but, oh,yes – to find the grace in it, the grace to be who He’s called us to be in it. Grace isn’t soft or pliable – you show it for what it is – powerful, able to move mountains and quiet the storms in and around us – and give us the courage to be who we’re called to be in the middle of chaos and hurt.
bluecottonmemory recently posted…cooking my way through. . .
Knowning when to be soft or strong has been my challenge. I want to speak truth but balance it so it isnt always brutal. If that makes sense. I’m on my way to Ferguson today and the prayer feels just as relevent for me, perhaps more so. Have a geeat weekend and thanks for reading.
Thank you for the words to pray, Lisha. My heart has been so confused. Angry. Tired. I’m reminded His strength is made perfect in weakness. I need to stop being distracted by my weakness and accept His strength. His grace. “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:26
Amen. I struggle with those same feelings Alex. Offering up my questions and concerns through prayer helos. Blessings.
[…] and I have no idea what I’m doing but I’m praying for change. Last Sunday I prayed this “Give me grace to listen. To engage my senses for the cause of Christ. To discern your truth, … When Deidra asked, I knew my yes would be an offering and part of the grace message I live, my […]
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Amen. Beautiful, Lisha
Alecia Simersky recently posted…I’m Wide Awake
thanks Alecia. have a great week.
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