Day 7: Inclusion (Prayer Guide)

Our Father in heaven, Reveal who you are.
Set the world right; Do what’s best—as above, so below.

Matthew 6:9-13, MSG

Day 7: Inclusion

READ.

Read the following verses.  As you read, pause and pray over anything that sticks out to you. Do not rush. In fact, consider starting this time in silence for :30-:60 and ask God to be near as you pray.

John 13:34-35
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

Galatians 3:28
There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Take a few moments to sit still with the Lord. Come to a posture of openness, palms face up in a position of surrender.

• What thoughts come to mind?

• What words or ideas did the Holy Spirit draw your attention to?

PRAY.

Read over this prayer and modify it as you need to. Allow yourself to talk to God without judgement and without censoring yourself.

Perfect Creator of my brothers and sisters,
Lover of diverse thinkers, divine dreamers,
Divine Unifier of all people to Oneself,
May your perfect love guide me,
As I love my neighbor as myself.

May Your Face be illuminated,
And as I embrace the ways in which You are different than me,
May I embrace the difference in others
as I learn to surrender myself to thee.

Holy, Holy, Holy
Bless the earth we walk upon
Holy, Holy, Holy,
May all your people join You as You bless us with Your song
Holy, Holy, Holy
Your Kingdom loves diversity.
Holy, Holy, Holy,
Help my unbelief.
Holy, Holy, Holy,
We need each others’ eyes so that we might learn to see
Jesus on every street on every corner in every heart.
Holy, Holy, Holy.

“At its most basic level, the everyday practice of being with other people is the practice of loving the neighbor as the self. More intricately, it is the practice of coming face-to-face with another human being, preferably someone different enough to qualify as a capital ‘O’ Other- and at least entertaining the possibility that this is one of the faces of God.” Barbara Brown Taylor

RESPOND.

Take a few moments, before you transition to church or anywhere else you encounter others, to ask Jesus to remind you of your need for others who are different than you. Confess any bitterness you may have towards your neighbor, and ask the Holy Spirit to convict you of any pride that you have that holds you back from seeing the Divine in your neighbor. Spend some time thanking God for the ways in which He moves differently in each of us and for unity in all the earth, among His Bride, as we encounter each other in the Kingdom.