A Prayer for Today

Nothing is distant from you, O God, with whom we have no fear, by whom we are raised up and in whom our hope is fulfilled.

God of all understanding,
the more I learn about your holy justice
the more I realise that even my prayers can be
riddled with sin.
In praying for other people
I have thought that I know best what they need.
I have taken the seat of judgement
and found others wanting.
I have not challenged the ground
of my own understanding,
allowing prejudice and stereotypes
to flourish unchecked.
Forgive me.
Help me to kneel before your throne of grace
with both confidence and humility.
Remind me to leave the judging and directing to you.
Enable me to pray for others
not by way of the gulfs that divide us
but via the love in which you hold us all in common,
revealed to us in Jesus. Amen.