{"id":311,"date":"2008-12-01T20:22:27","date_gmt":"2008-12-01T20:22:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/progressiverevival\/2008\/12\/aids-prayer-based-on-psalm-139.html"},"modified":"2008-12-01T20:22:27","modified_gmt":"2008-12-01T20:22:27","slug":"aids-prayer-based-on-psalm-139","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/2008\/12\/aids-prayer-based-on-psalm-139.html","title":{"rendered":"AIDS Prayer – Based on Psalm 139"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

I found this prayer on the website of the Metropolitan Community Church<\/a> which is a Gay Christian denomination and found it incredibly moving. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

O God, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I have to lie down and rest;
you know when I rise up with strength and courage;
you discern my thoughts when I far away and dreaming of another life.
You search out my path;
you know where I am, mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually.
You are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue, O God,
you know me so well that you know exactly what I will say.
You are behind me and in front of me; you hold me on every side.
You lay your hand upon me and from you I draw strength.
Your presence is so wonderful for me.
Where can I go from your spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence?
When I slip into denial, you are there;
if I shout and sing at the wonder of life, you do it with me.
If I take the wings of the morning
and fly as far as I can go,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me fast.
As I get my test results, you are with me in the clinic.
When I hold my lover’s hand, you are there.
You count each pill, each day, each blessing with me.
You hold me as I sleep,
and sit with me when I lay awake at night in worry.
For it was you who formed my inward parts;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.
You intricately wove my body, creating all its parts;
you made my bones, my cells, my heart, my blood, all of me.
You have known every moment of my existence:
you know all that has happened in my life and all that will.
I try to think like you do,
knowing each detail yet aware of the larger picture of life.
It is more than I can comprehend.
I wake up– I am still with you.
O that you would kill that which saps my health, O God,
that all disease would depart from me
and that HIV and AIDS would be gone.
Do I not fight for the sacred life you have created in me, O God?
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my thoughts.
See if there is any hurtful way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
We come before you this day, O Loving God,
mindful of your promise of abundant life,
yet aware that there is HIV and AIDS in your family.
We pray this day that You will awaken within us
the awareness that abundant life is not just about wholeness of bodies,
financial resources or having our needs met,
but that the life abundant comes from celebrating the life within us,
no matter what comes our way in this life.
Help us to celebrate the gift of life itself.
help us to band together in action, in prayer,
in support and in care for our brothers and sisters
who live with HIV and AIDS.
Help us to make the radical statement of love,
and to build bridges of support and care,
<\/font>this day and always.<\/font>\u00a0<\/font>\u00a0Amen.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I found this prayer on the website of the Metropolitan Community Church which is a Gay Christian denomination and found it incredibly moving. \u00a0 \u00a0 O God, you have searched me and known me.You know when I have to lie down and rest;you know when I rise up with strength and courage;you discern my thoughts…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[307],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prayer-and-ritual"],"yoast_head":"\nAIDS Prayer - Based on Psalm 139 - Progressive Revival<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/2008\/12\/aids-prayer-based-on-psalm-139.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AIDS Prayer - 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Paul B. Raushenbush is the moderator of the Progressive Revival blog and the Associate Dean of Religious Life at Princeton University. .An ordained American Baptist minister, Rev. Raushenbush speaks and preaches at colleges, churches and institutes around the country including the College of Preachers at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C., The Chautauqua Institute in upstate New York, and the New America Foundation. Rev. Raushenbush has served at Seattle First Baptist Church, the Presbyterian Chaplaincy at Columbia University and as College and Young Adult Minister at The Riverside Church in New York City. He has appeared on ABC World News Tonight and is a repeated guest on CNN. He has been quoted in The New York Times and The Washington Post and is a contributing editor for Beliefnet.com. His first book, Teen Spirit: One World, Many Faiths (HCI) was released in the Fall of 2004. He is the editor of the 100th Anniversary edition of Walter Rauschenbusch\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s book Christianity and the Social Crisis \u00e2\u20ac\u201c In the 21st Century (HarperOne). His work at Princeton includes strengthening the interfaith community on campus. He is the Co-Director of the Program on Religion, Diplomacy and International Relations at The Liechtenstein Institute on Self Determination at Princeton University. Rev. Raushenbush studied religion at Macalester College before attending Union Theological Seminary in New York City where he graduated with distinction.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/author\/praushenbush"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}