A Prayer of Love

I wrote this prayer, a prayer of love, while preparing for and writing the Advent Love devotional. It is inspired by 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a. As I did so, something changed within me, so I created a .pdf version to print and pray often. You can download A Prayer of Love and pray it regularly, too.

Praying the Word

Praying the Word can be more than adding your name or situation to Bible verses. Meditating on Scripture so that we can turn it into a prayer of the heart can help us to understand its meaning more deeply. It is always beneficial to ask the Holy Spirit for insight as we approach Scripture. We can also meditate on the passage or verse in various translations, reflect on it in context, and consider its meaning alongside cross references. I wept as I crafted a prayerful response to this often-quoted passage.

"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends." (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a)

A Prayer of Love based on 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Lord, thank you for being patient and consistently kind towards humanity through the ages and towards me. Help me to practice patience and kindness in all my interactions, regardless of how difficult or seemingly inconsequential they may be.

Deliver me from everything that causes me to envy or be jealous of Your blessings in the lives of others, boast in my achievements, or inflate my own importance. You are all-knowing, all-powerful, and everywhere present, yet You chose to sacrifice Yourself for a sinful world. I choose, therefore, to remember that in and through You I have all that I need. I choose to humble myself so that I may receive Your grace, which enables me to live to please You and love as You do.

Love is not arrogant, proud, or rude in word or deed, but I know that I can be. No matter how many mistakes I make or how I behave, You treat me with endless loving-kindness. Help me to remember this blessing and emulate it when I deal with others. As I reflect on and receive Your love for me, help me to see my sisters, brothers, and neighbours through the lens of Your love and treat them accordingly.

Although You are always right, You never take away my free will or force Your will upon me because that would not be loving. You paid the highest price to bless humanity with an invitation to life in all its fullness, yet You let us choose whether we will accept it. This is because love never insists on its own way; it also does not compromise to please others. Teach me how to remain faithful to Your statutes while loving those who aren't, just as love led You to associate with sinners but never to sin. Help me quickly identify the boundaries of my strength and know how to entrust people and circumstances into Your care, especially when loving them means I must step back.

You know well the sin of all humanity, even bearing it on the cross. Yet You are never irritable with us or resentful of Your sacrifice when we do not follow Your Way or respond with thanksgiving to Your unfailing goodness. Help me show such grace to others.

In Your holiness, You abhor sin and never rejoice at wrongdoing. Instead, you always celebrate what is true and honest. Help me to live this way, too, so that You may rejoice over Your love expressed in my thoughts, words, and deeds.

You bear with me, just as I am, while leading me toward perfection in You. You believe in me, even when I don't believe in myself. Likewise, help me never give up on those You have not given up on, but trust You to make everything beautiful in its time. 

May Your hope sustain me when I am weary, and Your love empower me to endure every hardship. Like You, may I live each moment full of love, because Love never stops loving. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Download A Prayer of Love