I am Not much of one to use or recite ‘prepared’ prayers! But when I ‘pastored’ the little church outside of Jacksonville (Lynnville, IL) in the early 2000, I found it necessary to print them in the bulletin each Sunday for ALL to pray together. Sometimes I would just quote Scripture, sometimes I would look in the older hymnals, etc. to find ones no longer ‘familiar’, and on occasion would just write my own! THIS is one of mine, and upon coming across it today felt moved to share it…

All:  GOD, sometimes it just doesn’t make sense. We live in a world that says, “Look out for number one,” and yet you tell us to think of others. The world tells us to buy more, and you tell us to give it away. Following you makes us foolish in the world’s eyes. But it’s not the world’s opinion that we care about. To the world we are weak, but in your eyes we are strong. There is joy in our obedience to you. If we follow your path, you’ll be there at the end of it. If we stray from the path, we’ll get caught in the briar and brambles. And when we find our way back to you, we’re bruised, tired, and hungry. Then we wonder what was so important that we left the path for it in the first place. Help us keep our eyes on our destination. Light your heavenly home so that we won’t be distracted by some­thing shiny off the beaten path.    Amen.