A Few of The Prayer Cards on my Desk this Week.
How We Pray for People in Addiction—And How You Can Too
As a Chaplain, one of the most common requests I get is for prayer. The folks I work with are not cultural elites who would dismiss prayer as an embarrassing superstition. No. The people I work with believe prayer works—and they are excited to hear someone is praying for them.
I use quarter-sheet-sized paper to collect prayer requests during Bible studies. The nature of the requests provides a window into the lives of the people who attend my Bible study.
Here are a few of the requests I recently collected
An incarcerated mother’s plea
This card points to a disturbing truth about incarceration and mothers.
As many as 2.7 million children have a parent in jail or prison on any given day in the US, half of whom may be under the age of nine. […] The number of mothers in prison increased by 96% between 1991 and 2016. Source
This particular mother has two teenage sons who are currently running afoul of the law, racking up time in juvenile detention facilities and violating the terms of probation. Like someone stuck in a bad dream, she’s watching helplessly as these events unfold. Thus, her prayer was “that [her] kids open their eyes and walk with our father.”
That’s my prayer, too. “Lord, open their eyes and teach them to walk in your paths.”
A collection of cards with one theme
These cards are all concerned with the health and well-being of friends and family outside prison. While prisoners serve their sentences, sickness and trouble continue to make their rounds.
A poignant card from a father.
This one was from one of the men at our church’s Tuesday night meeting. The last line touched me. “I haven’t been in her life enough, but I will.”
My prayer aligns with his hope: “I pray the LORD will help you fulfill the obligations of fatherhood with purpose and resolve.”
Prayer for our daily bread
The church reformer Martin Luther’s teaching on the Lord’s Prayer seems applicable here. He taught that each clause of the Lord’s Prayer was a placeholder under which similar items could be prayed for. Many of the prayer requests I receive seem like they would fit under the clause, “Give us this day our daily bread,” which, according to Luther, includes more than simple bread. Daily bread means:
Everything included in the necessities and nourishment for our bodies, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, farm, fields, livestock, money, property, an upright spouse, upright children, upright members of the household, upright and faithfal rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, decency, honor, good friends, faithfull neighbors, and the like.
Many of the prayer requests are precisely these kinds of requests. They are requests for our material world to make sense and to operate for the common good. “Less chaos, destruction, and entropy, Lord. More order, stability, and flourishing, please.”
Do you want to pray?
I am currently developing a private, online system where you can access our prayer requests and pray for Resilient’s attendees. In addition to being an opportunity to show love and concern for our attendees, I think you might enjoy having a glimpse into the lives and challenges our attendees face.
If you are interested in learning more about our prayer team initiative, click the link below. And choose “volunteer with Resilient”. You can find out about other ways to get involved, too.
Below is one of Bob Dylan’s best prayers sung by the incredible Lizz Wright.
“In the time of my confession, in the hour of my deepest need
When the pool of tears beneath my feet floods every newborn seed
There's a dying voice within me reaching out somewhere
Toiling in the danger and the morals of despair”