Tuesday Prayer

Tenacious God,
You’ve said “be strong and courageous.”  And here we are with quivering hearts, apprehensive about what needs to happen.

Do we really need to use our shaking voices?
Will they listen to us or throw us aside?
Will my one voice matter?

I know what my task is.  I know how you are calling and the road you are setting before me.

I don’t wanna go!

How about that strength and courage you were sharing with Joshua?  Will you share it with me today?  Will you give me the fortitude of Rosa Parks or Dietrich Bonhoeffer?  Will I stand when you’ve asked me to stand and sit when you’ve called me to sit?  Or will the gusts of fear intimidate me?

I request a road lined with gifts of persistence, determination, and resilience, God.  I need holy audacity to enter my heart to face the hate that has infected your world.

Amen.

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The Rev. Michelle L. Torigian is the Senior Pastor of St. Paul United Church of Christ, Belleville, Illinois. Her essay “Always a Pastor, Never the Bride” was in the RevGalBlogPals book There’s a Woman in the Pulpit. She also has chapters in the books Sacred Habits: The Rise of the Creative Clergy and A Child Laughs: Prayers for Justice and Hope. Torigian blogs at http://www.michelletorigian.com.

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