Litany of Hope (Revised)
The revisions may be slight, but they are significant (to me). So I share this updated version of the prayer. For those struggling with a loss of hope, whatever the cause (but especially due to health), I recommend that you do what I have committed myself to: read/pray this prayer (aloud is better) once a day along with the selected readings from 2 Corinthians. Speak the words into being. Then, please, let me know how you are doing through my private email.
May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ be blessed!
He is the compassionate Father and God of all comfort.
God of all sufficient grace,
please, hear me.
Immanuel, God ever and always with us,
please, be with me.
God of all hope and comfort,
please, be my hope.
Lord, please forgive and take away:
my sense of entitlement,
my expectations and bitterness,
my ingratitude for your blessings.
Lord, help me release to you, in faith:
the plans I had for life,
my great hopes and dreams,
all that I have lost to this disease.
Lord, help me believe and accept:
you are present when I’m in pain,
your grace is always enough, sufficient,
your power works best through weakness.
Lord, help me to fix:
my eyes on things unseen, not seen,
my hope on your work, not my own,
my heart on you alone.
And so by your grace may I find:
peace in the midst of pain,
strength in the midst of weakness,
hope in the midst of hopelessness,
joy in the midst of hardship.
--Amen
Selections from 2 Corinthians 4-5, Common English Bible
We have this treasure in clay pots
so that the awesome power belongs to God
and doesn’t come from us.
We are experiencing all kinds of trouble,
but aren’t crushed.
We are confused,
but we aren’t depressed.
We are harassed,
but we aren’t abandoned.
We are knocked down,
but we aren’t knocked out.
We always carry Jesus’ death around in our bodies
so that Jesus’ life can also be seen in our bodies.
We know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus
will also raise us with Jesus,
and he will bring us into his presence.
But even if our bodies are breaking down on the outside,
the person we are on the inside is being renewed every day.
Our temporary minor problems are producing
an eternal stockpile of glory for us that is beyond all comparison.
We don’t focus on the things that can be seen,
but on the things that can’t be seen.
The things that can be seen don’t last,
but the things that can’t be seen are eternal.
We know that if the tent that we live in on earth is torn down,
we have a building from God.
It’s a house that isn’t handmade,
which is eternal and located in heaven.
We groan while we live in this residence
because we are weighed down.
We want to be dressed not undressed,
so that what is dying may be swallowed up by life.
Now the one who prepared us for this very thing is God,
and God gave us the Spirit as a down payment for our home.
So we are always confident.
We live by faith and not by sight.
Limited permission is granted for reuse of this prayer in worship or other venues. If printed in any form attribution must be given as "Glenn Pemberton, mosaicsite.org/glennpemberton." Special permission is required to print three or more of these prayers at one time in any form, print, electronic, etc., and must be secured by request at gdp05b@acu.edu.
