A Prayer for Self-Improvement
Each week, after I write the main post, a few days later, I send an accompanying prayer related to the topic. I am doing in this in part for me: I always am on the hunt for more written prayers. I use written prayers often in my work to pray for larger groups, but I also love written prayers for my personal piety. Sometimes it is nice when I do not have the words to use someone else’s.
The below prayer is in response to my latest post on how my 24 for 2024 list is going.
Dear God,
I know that you want more from me, and I am always working to be that better version of myself: more patient, more wise, more loving, more kind, more productive, more holy.
Sometimes these quests for self-improvement turn into prideful endeavors. I seek the wrong ends: fame, admiration, success, bragging rights, glory, an escape from dealing with hard things.
There is a fine line between pursuing sanctification and chasing external accomplishments because I believe that I will never be enough.
Let me remember that goals should draw me closer to you and to others, not isolate me; that the self-help podcasts and books I consume may encourage me along the way but will not erase or outsmart the messiness and chaos of life; that aiming my sights on the next milestone can drive me to challenge myself but also lead me to focus on selfish gains.
Because you designed this precise tension to exist within me, within all of us: I am already beautifully made and I am capable of more. Amen.