Words affect all of us differently. As you read this prayer, read with generosity, and consider which images and words speak to you, and which make you bristle. Instead of agreeing or disagreeing in the “Comments” section, please use that space to expand upon an image or word from the prayer that resonated with you, or that you felt was missing, and write an expansive prayer of your own.
May you Lord God grant my most heartfelt desire
As I pass through the midst of the refiner’s fire
For You know what is beneath the surface
As I emerge this moment a woman of purpose
Breaking through the guilt, the hurt and the shame
Emerging victorious despite the pain
I pray may your way be made manifest in me
While I walk the marked path of destiny
May Your will reign sovereign, complete and free
Your glory revealed from the depths of me
As you purge me now to reveal The Spirit’s fruit
Killing the very depths of a bitter root
I submit my will to be lost in Thine
My way forfeited for a life sublime
Yielded now I cast on you my care
To be wholly Thine is my most fervent prayer
Evangelist Marcella Woodridge of New Bethel AME Church, Willow Grove, PA
New Church of Montgomery, in Glendale 