For Giving Prayer or Forgiving Prayers
Conversations:
Themes of the Kingdom from the Mount
Collection of writing from CCWF members.
For Giving Prayer
(Inspired by the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:5-14)
Some prayers stick with me.
Etching their power into my steps—
Into the crumbling earth beneath my path.
They change me—remind me I am not alone.
Telling me I am forever in God’s debt
To the One who calls me free. And yet
Some prayers fit like a familiar shirt—
A narrative rehearsed and performed
On a stage in front of family and friends.
I know the words. I wrote them myself.
I bow with the applause. My pride swells—
Hugging me until the spotlight dims. God tells
Me the truth. There are no rewards for hypocrites.
Leaving me paralyzed—imprisoned without hope.
Some prayers hurt. They sting and burn. Trapped
By the choices I made without God—
Yesterday. My sins laid before me like a quilt—
A pattern of debts binding and suffocating with guilt.
But God’s prayer delivers me. Relentless and sure.
Releasing the burden of tiresome temptations
In the secret place of my soul. Unshackled and free—
I whisper the prayer that God wrote for me.
The four walls of my closet listen to the words within—
Penned by the King as he brings forgiveness from sin.
Some prayers prepare our souls for battling demons.
Preparing for rescue or release. Or seeking guidance
For giving me His kingdom forgiveness—not blame.
God graces my life as I pray in his glorious name.
By Patricia Tiffany Morris
(First published in CCWF Anthology 2022. Capital Christian Writers Fellowship)
FOR GIVING PRAYER or FORGIVING PRAYERS
Each day, we carry a debt weighing and pressing on our minds. How do we deal with the seasons of regret without our merciful, forgiving Father? I’m grateful he reminds me that I don’t have to bear my sorrows and griefs alone.
Neither do you. Come to His merciful presence and seek His grace.
Find hope in the hopeless, messiness of life on this earth.
Find His forgiveness and grace.
Photographs of original alcohol ink paintings by Patricia Tiffany Morris