{"id":1204,"date":"2016-06-14T06:51:36","date_gmt":"2016-06-14T06:51:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/craigfinnestad.com\/?p=1204"},"modified":"2016-06-15T08:46:01","modified_gmt":"2016-06-15T08:46:01","slug":"soren-kierkegaards-collected-prayers-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/craigfinnestad.com\/?p=1204","title":{"rendered":"S\u00f8ren Kierkegaard’s Collected Prayers for Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This was the second to last prayer I wrote for Prayers from The Water’s Edge. It was written here: A park Kierkegaard would have walked through.<\/p>\n

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My desk for the day<\/p><\/div>\n

The following is my translation of seven of S\u00f8ren Kierkegaard\u2019s prayers. I made them a little easier to read and more\u00a0applicable for the twenty-first century while hopefully keeping the original meanings. I also arranged them to read like they were a single prayer.<\/em><\/p>\n

He is one of history\u2019s great philosophers and thinkers\u2014but note how he prays with the passion of a distant lover and the faith of a child.<\/em><\/p>\n

Dear God,<\/p>\n

Whether I am distant from You or near to You. Distant because of busyness, work, school, sports, finances, or pride. Or distant because I feel hurt, lonely, or criticized. Draw me entirely to Yourself.<\/p>\n

When the thought of You enters my heart, let me awaken not like a frightened bird who flies away in fear. Instead, may I be like a child waking from sleep with a deep heavenly smile.<\/p>\n

Let me really feel my nothingness, not in order to despair over it, but in order to feel more powerfully the greatness of Your goodness.<\/p>\n

Teach me not to be a victim or overthink myself to death through stifling reflection, but rather teach me to breathe more deeply in faith.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t hold my sins against me, but hold me up against my sins. When my soul becomes aware of You and each time I am awakened, may I be reminded not of my sin but of Your forgiveness.<\/p>\n

Give me again the courage to hope. Let me see life\u2019s possibilities. Renew and make fruitful my unproductive and infertile mind.<\/p>\n

And during those times when You don\u2019t seem to hear my voice, my complaints, my cries, and my thanksgivings\u2014I will continue to pray until I speak my thanksgiving that You have heard my prayers.<\/p>\n

Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  This was the second to last prayer I wrote for Prayers from The Water’s Edge. It was written here: A park Kierkegaard would have walked through. The following is my translation of seven of S\u00f8ren Kierkegaard\u2019s prayers. I made…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1207,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,71],"tags":[76,93],"class_list":["post-1204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prayers","category-renewal-leave","tag-prayer","tag-soren-kierkegaard"],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n