Prayers

#438 - Keep Me Away from Messy Lives
Volume 2 - Prayers to Love Our Neighbor

Dear Father, there are people with messy lives. Incarceration. Addiction. Foreclosure. Divorce. Estrangement. Disease. Dysfunction. Poverty. Their adversity is like some awful virus. I keep my distance from them. I avoid bumping into them. I reluctantly offer my hand for a handshake when they need a hug. I don't want to get involved with their lives. I have my own life to live. I have a busy schedule and a tight budget. I have my own minor problems to attend to. I've managed to avoid adversity and suffering in my life. Why couldn't these people be like me? Father, this attitude is revealing that I am spiritually blind. I am my own god and I am the center of my universe. I live for my own comfort and pleasure. Helping people with messy lives forces me to consider life has pain and suffering. I don't want to think about that. Father, adversity tears down such self-centered and thoughtless belief systems. When I'm in the middle of intense suffering, I will be wishing there was someone out there who could be incredibly kind to me. My eyes will be opened to the beauty of compassion, mercy, generosity, and empathy. I know adversity builds character. It is unavoidable for me. However, I don't want You to bring adversity into my life because I am so entirely thoughtless of others. Wake me up now. I confess my rebellion to You and I want to surrender my life to You this very day. May the Holy Spirit transform my heart, giving me a loving and caring spirit for others. May I long to help people in need, even if that includes the most disgusting of tasks. Father, if there is not a change in my spirit, I may be in a place where I need my diaper changed and no one wants to get involved with my messy life. Change my heart now. Amen.

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