Daily Prayers for October 29
Clarence Jordan (1912 – 1969)
A son of the American South, Clarence Jordan was troubled by his -people’s comfortable embrace of both -Jesus and racism. After studying for a doctorate in New Testament at the Southern Baptist Seminary, Jordan and his family returned to Georgia in 1942 to start Koinonia Farm, an interracial community in the heart of the Jim Crow South. Greeted by Ku Klux Klan members who told him, “We don’t let the sun set on -people like you around here,” Jordan smiled and replied, “Pleased to meet y’all. I’ve been waiting all my life to meet someone who could make the sun stand still.”
O Lord, let my soul rise up to meet you
as the day rises to meet the sun.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Come, let us sing to the Lord : let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.
Song “Amazing Grace”
May a great move of God spread : through earth, as through the heavens.
Psalm 140:1 – 3, 7 – 9
Deliver me, O Lord, from evildoers : protect me from the violent,
who devise evil in their hearts : and stir up strife all day long.
They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent : adder’s poison is under their lips.
O Lord God, the strength of my salvation : you have covered my head in the day of battle.
Do not grant the desires of the wicked, O Lord : nor let their evil plans prosper.
Let not those who surround me lift up their heads : let the evil of their lips overwhelm them.
May a great move of God spread : through earth, as through the heavens.
Ezra 10:1 – 17 Titus 1:1 – 16
May a great move of God spread : through earth, as through the heavens.
Clarence Jordan wrote, “-Jesus has been so zealously worshiped, his deity so vehemently affirmed, his halo so brightly illumined, and his cross so beautifully polished that in the minds of many he no longer exists as a man. By thus glorifying him we more effectively rid ourselves of him than did those who tried to do so by crudely crucifying him.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
God, keep us from the temptation to so polish your image that those who most need your love feel too dirty to approach you. Amen.
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you;
may he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm;
may he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you;
may he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors.
