Yet Another prayer from Ted Loder and then I will take a break from posting his prayers so much and share other things for a while. This one has been particularly meaningful for me in a period of recovery and rebuilding of my faith. I grew up in a context where dreams were viewed with suspicion so to pray and ask God to keep me in touch with my dreams felt very wrong at first, but the more I prayed it the more I knew it was right. It was right in the deepest sense of the word: it was true. Maybe you will find it to be so also. This prayer is titled “Keep Me IN Touch With My Dreams.”

O Lord,

in the turbulence

and the loneliness

of my living from day to day

and night to night,

keep me in touch with my roots,

so I will remember where I cam from

and with whom;

keep me in touch with my feelings

so I will be more aware of who I really am

and what it costs;

keep me in touch with my mind

so I will know who I am not

and what that means;

and keep me in touch with my dreams

so I will grow toward where I want to go

and for whom.

O Lord,

deliver me

from the arrogance of assuming

I know enough to judge others;

deliver me

from the timidity of presuming

I don’t know enough to help others;

deliver me

from the illusion of claiming I have changed enough

when I have only risked little,

that, so liberated,

I will make some of the days to come different.

O Lord,

I ask not to be delivered

from the tensions that wind me tight,

But I do ask for a sense of direction in which to move once wound,

a sense of humor about my disappointments,

a sense of respect for the elegant puzzlement of being human,

and a sense of gladness for your kingdom

which comes in spite of my fretful pulling and tugging.

O Lord,

nurture in me

the song of a lover,

the vision of a poet,

the questions of a child,

the boldness of a prophet,

the courage of a disciple.

O Lord,

it is said you created people

because you love stories.

Be with me as I live out my story.