A Prayer A Minute: 1440 Minutes Prayer Guides For Daily Living

A PRAYER A MINUTE

1440 PRAYERS FOR DAILY LIVING

Solomon Williams Obotetukudo, Ph.D.

Fontaineheads Books

Fontana, California, United States of America

Copyright © 2014 by Dr. Solomon Williams Obotetukudo

Published by Fontaineheads Books

Distributed by Smashwords

Fontaineheads Books

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First Printing October 2014

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DEDICATION

ERIKAN VICTORIA WILLIAMS OBOTETUKUDO

EPIGRAMS

Give us courage, O Lord, to stand up and be counted,

To stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves,

To stand up for ourselves when it is needed for us to do so.

Let us fear nothing more than we fear you.

Let us love nothing more than we love you,

For thus we shall fear nothing also.

Let us have no other God before you,

Whether nation or party or state or church.

Let us seek no other peace but the peace which is yours,

And make us its instruments,

Opening our eyes and our ears and our hearts,

So that we should know always what work of peace

We may do for you.

——Alan Paton

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love,

Where there is injury, pardon,

Where there is doubt, faith,

Where there is despair, hope,

Where there is darkness, light,

Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

To be consoled as to console,

Not so much to be understood as to understand,

Not so much to be loved as to love;

For it is in giving that we receive,

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

It is in dying that we awake to eternal life.

——Saint Francis of Assisi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART ONE: THANKSGIVING (1-181)

PART TWO: CONFESSIONS, FORGIVENESS, RECOMPENSE (182-361)

PART THREE: PRAISES, WORSHIP, ADORATION (362-543)

PART FOUR: PETITIONS, INTERCESSIONS, PLEADINGS, REQUESTS (544-728)

PART FIVE: PARTNERSHIPS, TEAMWORK, CREATIVITY, IMAGINATIONS (729-912)

PART SIX: RELATIONSHIPS, INTIMACIES, VICTORIES (913-1099)

PART SEVEN: REVELATIONS, INSPIRATIONS, INSIGHTS (1100-1289)

PART EIGHT: EXPECTATIONS, RENEWAL, AFFIRMATION (1290-1440)

PREFACE

Another book of prayers from me is not because I have a lot to say about prayer; rather, it is because prayer has a lot to say about us humans. I write on prayers because it is the communicative tool to spiritual living. I write about prayers because it is the vehicle to, with, and through which humans go to God and speak, plead, request, and affirm themselves and the majesty of Creations. Prayers bring humans humbly and earnestly before the presence of God. And in that state of humbleness and prayerfulness, there is communion, communication, intimacy and shared knowledge. Humans talk to, and with God through prayers. Humans come to know the powers and mercies of God through the act of prayer. It is while humans pray that God appears by answering humans' requests, pleadings, and petitions. While in prayers, God reveals, inspires, elevates, relates, and affirms. And above all, prayers speak to human believes in the Superior Power over all others.

Humans believe in prayers; and hence the continuous supplications to God in all languages and in every country and place where humans ever trod, lived, and died. Prayer is there at conception and birth; at marriage and divorces; at plays and work. Humans pray while at war and peace. Humans pray before and after each meal every day of their lives. On their way to eke a living, and while at any task, humans pray. Prayer is everywhere because everywhere needs prayer; and every human needs prayer.

It is my understanding of the power and presence, say, the ubiquity of prayer in all of humans' lives that compelled the writing of this and other prayer books. This particular book consists of simple and direct prayer utterances most humans offer each day in their lives. I believe every living being at some point in the day observe moments of quiet, while he or she is engaged in any and all of the tasks set for the day. While such moments of silence may not be observed by others, it is nevertheless true that all humans pause once in a while in their hectic and hustling and bustling lives, to contemplate their existence and the masterful hands that direct all of their affairs. Work, talk, laughs, smiles, the good mornings and good evening greetings are all prayers. And so when humans reflect, it is prayerful; when they relax, it is prayerful; when they eat or ingest any substance, it is unknowingly or unintentionally an act of prayer in the forms of thanksgivings, appreciations for the gifts, confessions for mistakes, pleadings for human shortcomings, pleas for forgiveness, adoration for the crafter of life, requests for a continuation of the life they know; and pleas to understand the lives beyond they do not know.

Each prayer utterance in this book ends in ellipses, because, for one, prayer never ends. Two, the omissions invite more and expect more from the suppliant. Three, each ellipsis shows the frequency with which humans throw their needs, troubles, wishes and desires to God. And finally, one can conclude the intentional omissions serve to get humans hooked to God in perpetuity, with the strong conviction that only God can solve their problems, bless them, reward them, listen to them, affirm them, and deliver them from all problems.

The masters of human religions and religiosity have written much on prayers. I am not inventing the genre. Instead, I am only adding to the menu; and in so doing inviting a much deeper understanding and interpretation of prayer. With the ellipses at the end of each utterance, I am admitting of my limited knowledge of the types and occasions or personal circumstances that impel human prayers. Even if every prayer has been prayed, every person's prayers have not, because every person has unique circumstances that call forth specific prayers in time and place. The pauses at the end of each prayer entry here is an invitation to continue and conclude according to one's own desires and circumstance that called forth the specific prayer. But more than that, the pauses serve to break the flow of utterances thereby giving space for reflections and inviting God to enter into one's inner spaces for more communication, and to listen in in the exchanges.

The book is organized into eight parts. Each part clusters prayer topics and subjects together to form a coherent narrative in the prayer arsenal. As weapons of spiritual warfare, prayers must be sharp, direct, focused, and made to perform as intended and expected by the suppliant. The poignancy of the prayer means that it cannot be ignored by God, even though God never ignored any prayer. But the fact that these prayer utterances are calibrated for immediate impact and compacted, and ready to deliver the punch, they go to the heart of the matter: that humans depend on prayer for sustenance; that prayer is a tool for deliverance; that prayer, like food, air, water, and language, is an equipment for human living; and that the offering of prayer is a daily sacrificial ritual to appease, adore, praise, adorn, admire, worship, retain, maintain, nurture, and expect, initiate, and maintain relationships with God.

Each section in this book can be devoted to each daily prayer routine. There is however, no need to be rigid. One may read the content according to one's desires. But for a beginner, A Prayer A Minute is an invitation to participate in daily conversations with God. The eighth section need not be discarded because it falls out of the seven-day week calendar; instead, it needs be integrated into the overall scheme of prayer routines for the self and the family or prayer groups. Again, I am not a sticker to prayer schedules; but I am interested in people praying unceasingly to God in any language and in any methods, about their individual and collective needs and desires. So, let us all continue to pray!

Solomon Williams Obotetukudo, Ph.D.

Fontana, California, United States of America

July 1, 2014

INTRODUCTION

This book, A Prayer A Minute: 1440 Minutes Prayers For Daily Living, came about as a thought spoken aloud, in moments of my introspection about the 2013-2014 religious crises in my ancestral home, Nigeria, West Africa, where Islamic extremists have visited deaths, mass murders, kidnappings, suicide bombings, assassinations, and church burnings on Christians as well as non-Christians in the Northern States in Nigeria. From that revelation it became known to me that the Muslims who fervently pray five times a day must have a rich repertoire of prayer items in their arsenal. I wondered what they pray for; why they pray at all; and if they prayed before, during, and after the mass killings and assassinations and church burnings. So, I reached out to Islam's Holy Book of Scriptures, the Holy Quoran, in my study, with the intent to unveil sections where prayers are demanded of the Muslim Faithful. Lo, and behold, there are plenty of references and passages about prayer. The curiosity then thickened. I pulled out the Holy Bible, the Holy Book of Scriptures for followers of Jesus Christ. And there, is a plethora of verses of, and references to prayer. I was not satisfied. I went into other books of other religions and spiritual practices that I have collected over the years. These scriptural writings and sayings, or prayers and meditations; or supplications, sacrifices or rituals of faith, all seem to have a common denominator: humanity's search for meaning and relationship with God who they believe can answer and solve their human problems through prayer conducted in different ways.

Now I wanted to know what the dictionaries say and define as prayer. Webster's Universal Encyclopedic Dictionary, 2002 Edition, defines prayer as: (1) an address (as a petition) to God or a god in word or thought (ex. Say a prayer for the success of the voyage); (2) a set order of words used in praying; and an earnest request or wish. In the second entries, the dictionary defines prayer as an act of doing the prayers. That is, prayer is seen as the act or practice of praying to God or a god, which could be in the form of kneeling in prayer. Although Webster's Dictionary did not include that people pray in various forms and styles in its definition of devotional practices, it is logical that I include here, dancing (Sufis), hand clapping (evangelicals and spirituals), kissing the walls (Jews), washing in running holy streams, waters, rivers (Hindus, Primalists, Nativists), pilgrimaging (Muslims, Medievalists, Spiritualists), wrapping the selves (Judaism), breathing (Taoists), meditations (Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Buddhists), rosarying, and bead counting (Catholics, Muslims), chanting (Buddhists), whipping of selves (Sufis), and so on. There are as many varieties of ways to pray as there are religions and belief systems.

This book is divided into eight parts. Part One focuses on Thanksgiving. Part Two concentrates on Confessions, Forgiveness and Recompense. In part Three, I dwell on Praises, Worship, and Adoration. Part Four is devoted to Petitions, Intercessions, Pleadings, and Requests. Part Five is on Partnerships, Teamwork, and Imaginations. Part Six delves into Relationships, Intimacies, and Victories. Part Seven is on Revelations, Inspirations, and Insights. Part Eight draws the reader into Expectations, Renewal, and Affirmations. Within each category I have sub-themes to guide a reader to particular prayer topics. I have allowed each person the freedom to select and expand on a prayer topic by ending each entry with ellipsis. That means a prayer entry here is not close-ended. One can take the topic on to different directions and into diverse issues of interest. One can add or extend the themes to personal and private concerns. The categories are not confining and not constraining. So pray your needs and values anytime.

Besides this being a book of prayer, its most ardent message is about tolerance and openness; about inclusion and acceptance, and forgiveness and relationships. Prayer is offered based on what all humans need. Prayer is about the basic human emotions that seek places for a hearing. When humans pray, they plead, ask, request, praise, entreat, expect, want, and desire. Humans pray in the languages that address those needs every minute of the day, at work and play; in wars and peace; in love and hate; in strives and collaborations; in sadness and joy. So when the dictionary defines kneeling as an example of the ways humans can pray, that definition did not exhaust methods of praying. For example, a prayer for tolerance could be as vivid and lucid as merely listening to the opposing side in an argument or a debate.

A listening ear affords an opportunity to enter into the other person's thought streams as they are being articulated in words. The sheer act of expressing the self and then the other giving one that space and a hearing is praying of the highest kind; that is, if prayer is believed to be a supplication. Listening opens the ears, hearts, minds, and thought processes of others to new views and perspectives. Therefore, the act of opening one's minds and thinking processes to others is in itself prayer. When one listens and opens the self to others, one is making oneself available for inclusion in the dialogue or exchange of ideas, feelings, and emotions prevalent at the time and place. What results from these interchanges and exchanges is prayers, as in requests, petitions, entreats, praises, and so on, being heard and considered or acted upon by the participants.

Indeed, prayers take different forms in varying contexts of human interactions. But the substance of prayers remains the same for everyone who prays. Elsewhere in my writings on prayers, I had asserted that humans pray their values. Here also, I reiterate that assertion; and add to it that human values inform our beliefs. Whatever beliefs humans hold is a function of their culture and ecology. When external influences impinge on the cultures as often the case, with the introduction of foreign and alien elements, there arise struggles of adoption, adaptation, rejection, acceptance and even toleration and finally co-optation. Hence, competing and conflicting belief systems in most societies, and the corresponding varieties of spiritual experiences and practices, such as in the different methods and styles of prayers.

From the belief that prayer can open minds and ears to competing pleas, one cannot dismiss the place of shared prayerfulness. Shared prayer moments are invitations as well as opportunities for mutual support and understanding of the others. In the very act of shared space and time with others, one gains the implicit and direct support of all participants; one also comes to appreciate the power of connectedness and fellowshipping that are not necessarily dictated by organized religious doctrines and dogmas. People pray from their hearts; the hearts share same emotions and feelings across times, places, peoples, religions, and genders. All humans feel pain and love, even though with varying degrees of intensity. All humans nurse hate and resentment at one time or the other. All humans show and feel happiness and joy at some points in their lives. Prayers that result in, before or after the sharing or experiencing of humans emotions will only vary depending on the intensity by the individual suppliant in a specific context or environment.

Shared prayer times, for example is evidence of social and cultural interpenetrations that can foster harmonious living and cooperative existence with others based on that common denominator—prayer. In the presence of others in common accord, and praying together about divergent issues of importance, reminds the congregants that humanity in all its paradoxes, shares the desire for collective strength in numbers, and a sense of community in revealing themselves to others on the issues or problems and concerns that all of them share, during that act of praying together. I am not saying individual prayer do not these things; rather, I am emphasizing the power of groups of peoples to share of their commonness and sense of community when they communicate together to and with God.

A prayer that matters is that which speaks to us, as well as for us. Because prayer is primarily a plea concerning the self, every individual prayer matters to the self. But all prayers are not always about the self; we pray for others too. And that too is done over concerns for, of, and about others. So, be it individual or congregational prayers, prayers come from the bosom of our feelings and thoughts on things or issues that matter. While every individual prayer is unique to each person's circumstances, and thus very personal, the act of praying in itself extends and expands the individual and private concerns to an Other. That Other is God, the Inexplicable One. We come in touch and become closer to God through prayer. Individuals as well as groups express their needs, desires and wants and anxieties to God in prayers.

In dividing the book into categories and sub-categories, it encompasses many types of prayers for many occasions and needs and expectations that sometimes overlap. Still, I cannot claim to exhaust prayer topics or themes. Without alluding to any specific prayer rituals, ceremonies or traditions, the book includes prayers from all spiritualties. The thrust of this book therefore, is to assist humans to cultivate and nurture prayerful, as well as personal relationships with themselves and the Superior Other Being whom they call God in different names, languages, religious, and spiritual traditions. Many of the prayers contained here overlap the artificial boundaries or categories. For example, when one praises, one also is worshipping. In worshipping one is also affirming the self and the Divine, thereby gaining entrance into a relationship that allows for more petitions, more requests, and so on. So, in one single swoop, a prayer of request can serve the functions of praise, worship, affirmation, pleas, and so on.

I hope that anyone who reads this book would find sections in the book that appeal to him or her. This book could be used in any assembly or in a family or by individuals, or groups, for all of human circumstances, such as praising, worshipping, confessions, pleas, petitions, requests, affirmations, and devotions, among others. Above all, the books cuts across all forms and types of prayers, and therefore is a ready source to teach persons not well versed in the rituals, routines, and languages of prayer from any single or particular religion or belief system, because everyone prays at some point in their lives.

In sum, this book offers numerous answers to anyone who asks: How do I pray? What do I pray about? Who should I pray to? When is the best time to pray? Why should I pray? Why is prayer important? Why is prayer necessary? Should I be of any single religion to pray? And lastly, why do people pray? These questions are answered in the various prayers contained here. The book as it is written invites the reader to enter into each entry from his or her experiences. An entry may serve as an opening to many things in a reader's life, which might lead him or her to different interrelated entries. Since all of human issues are interconnected, the separation into themes and categories here is only for organizing conveniences, not for regulating or dictating how the entries should be read. From the individual prayer selections, you may find a collective issue that requires a group prayer; and from group prayer you may discover individual needs and concerns. When the private and the personal become public, it means the public is also the personal in all of our lives. What affects one affects all; and what affects all, affects the individual. So, let your imaginations and experiences and needs and values direct you to any sections; and please pray your values and needs. And may God answer all our prayers.

PART I

THANKSGIVING

Everyone has something to be thankful for; even the man who can't pay his debts can be thankful he isn't one of his creditors. — Anonymous

PART ONE: THANKSGIVING

1

O God, I thank You for the birth of a new day and for the start of a new life You breathe into me when I wake up...

2

O God, I thank You for the gift of life to me and all peoples, even those who forget about You...

3

O God, I thank You for the ability to wake up from my sleep this day...

4

O God, I thank You for breathing life into me this new day as I wake up...

5

O God, I thank You for the provision of food this day...

6

O God, I thank You for the ability to use the bathroom this day...

7

O God, I thank You for the ability to wash my body and my face this day...

8

O God, I thank You for the gift of materials to cover my nakedness this day...

9

O God, I thank You for the gift of a place to call a house and home today...

10

O God, I thank You for the blessing of a beautiful and supporting family...

11

O God, I thank You for the blessing of faithful and all-weather friends...

12

O God, bless this day as I go and come in my daily duties...

13

O God, bless all the peoples and places I meet and visit this day...

14

O God, I thank You for the air that I breathe this day and everyday...

15

O God, I thank You for the ground upon which I stand and walk on this day and always...

16

O God, I thank You for the water in the rivers and seas and the mighty oceans...

17

O God, I thank You for the fish in the waters, seas, and the oceans

18

O God, I thank You for the trees and the leaves on them that provide sheds for all...

19

O God, I thank You for the forests from where the trees and timbers