Develop a Discipleship System
Praying for Change: Daily Prayers for Anti-Racism
By Derek Weber
While the headlines may have receded, the sin of racism continues to be seen and felt on both individual and systemic levels. Dismantling racism is not a short-term task but a lifelong moving forward to perfection in love—to use founder of the Methodist movement, John Wesley’s words. Therefore, Discipleship Ministries and other agencies and bodies of The United Methodist Church will continue to provide resources and guidance on how to become anti-racist individuals and churches. Please seek out the help you need to maintain your efforts to transform your community into an anti-racist fellowship.
The Worship Team of Discipleship Ministries believes, however, that such a change will not happen unless the whole process is bathed in prayer every step along the way. To that end, we will continue to provide daily prayers to help keep us all centered on the ongoing journey of transformation. From Monday through Friday, a new prayer will be posted here for your use as personal devotion, to share in your small group, or for use in corporate worship.
If you wish to receive these prayers each day in your email, the process for signing up is outlined below. If you would like to submit a prayer for anti-racism, click here to contact us. Join with us in this season of prayer and change in our denomination and beyond.
July 26, 2024
The world has gathered in Paris, France, God of every nation and all peoples, for the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games. The athletes who compete present the best of human physical accomplishment. Through years of training and rigorous discipline, they will now represent their nations on the fields of competition. These games have been presented as a sign that perhaps there are other ways for nations to compete than war and violence. These games are presented as a sign that there is equality among nations, as diverse representative line up, shoulder to shoulder, to run the race or swim the laps or leap across the floor in graceful patterns. Yet we also know there is a great disparity in resources made available, in facilities provided, and coaching offered. We know that some winners receive grand payouts and media recognition, while others return home to obscurity and poverty.
Let our prayer throughout these Olympic Games be that the image of equality somehow becomes more real for the athletes and the people they represent. Let our prayer throughout be that the fragile and temporary peace during these games somehow become lasting and the driving vision for the leaders of all the nations. Let our prayer be that the differences among the competitors and the differences among the watchers be a source of celebration and connection rather than suspicion and fear. Let our prayer be that your kin-dom may come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.
Derek C Weber, July 2024
July 25, 2024
Lord, whatever our race, ethnicity, background or beliefs, prick our conscience when we are tempted to dismiss, demonize, or discredit someone who is different from us in any way. Give us courage to keep pressing on when systems or problems seem hopeless or insurmountable.
February 2023 Anti-Racism Prayer Calendar, Church of the Servant, Grand Rapids, Michgan, https://www.churchoftheservantcrc.org/february-2023-anti-racism-prayer-calendar/.
July 24, 2024
God of humor and wisdom,
Is this a real thing? Tell an old joke day? I don’t know what it really means, but I like the idea that we set aside a day for making one another laugh. We need more laughter; we need more joy; we need that which binds us together in heart and emotion as we learn to laugh with one another.
Forgive me being a killjoy on a nonsense day, but give us grace to pay attention to the old jokes we tell one another. Too much of our humor is at the expense of another. Too many of our jokes are about knocking down the stranger, poking fun at difference, emphasizing otherness. Let us work hard enough at our humor to find that which lifts everyone and binds community together. Let us laugh at ourselves until we all seem to be more alike than different. That would truly give us joy. Amen and Amen.
Derek C Weber, July 2024
July 23, 2024
Gracious Lord,
we dream of a world free of poverty and oppression,
and we yearn for a world free of vengeance and violence.
we pray for your peace.
When our hearts ache for the victims of war, [racial violence], and oppression, help us to remember that you healed people simply by touching them, and give us faith in our ability to comfort and heal bodies and minds and spirits that have been broken by violence.
When the injustice of this world seems too much for us to handle,
help us to remember that you fed five thousand people
with only five loaves of bread and two fish…,
and give us hope that what we have to offer will turn out to be enough, too.
When fear of the power and opinions of others
tempts us not to speak up for the least among us,
help us to remember that you dared to turn over the tables of money changers, and give us the courage to risk following you without counting the cost.
When we feel ourselves fill with anger at those who are violent and oppressive, help us remember that you prayed for those who killed you, and give us compassion for our enemies, too.
When we tell ourselves that we have given all we can to bring peace to this world,
help us to remember your sacrifice…,
and give us the miracle of losing a little more of ourselves
in serving you and our neighbors.
Walk with us, Lord, as we answer your call to be peacemakers.
Increase our compassion, our generosity and our hospitality for the least of your children.
Give us the courage, the patience, the serenity, the self-honesty, and the gentleness of spirit that are needed in a world filled with turmoil and terror. Amen.
Written by Jack Knox, pastor of Salem (Oregon) Mennonite Church, cited in Prayers for Racial Justice, St. Andrews Episcopal Church, Allentown, Pennsylvania, https://www.standrewsbethlehem.org/welcome-home-page/prayers-for-racial-justice/.
July 22, 2024
Come, Holy Spirit, show us your beauty, reflected in all peoples of the earth, so that we may discover anew that all are important and all are necessary, different faces of the one humanity that God so loves. Amen.
“Prayers for Racial Justice,” Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, https://cafod.org.uk/pray/prayer-resources/prayers-for-racial-justice.
Rev. Dr. Derek Weber, Director of Preaching Ministries, served churches in Indiana and Arkansas and the British Methodist Church. His PhD is from University of Edinburgh in preaching and media. He has taught preaching in seminary and conference settings for more than 20 years.
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