The Prayer of St. Francis of AssisiSample

Where there is hatred, let me sow love. where there is injury, pardon (forgive); where there is doubt, faith;

Jesus’ final hours were spent in the garden praying. While he was praying, a Roman cohort of soldiers arrived, along with Pharisees and Judas Iscariot. This was to be the moment Jesus was betrayed.

Everyone was on high alert. Emotions were electrifying.

After Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss, Peter takes out his sword to kill someone, except he misses. His miss takes off the ear of Malchus, the high priest’s servant.

Jesus then delivers love in the form of healing Malchus’ ear. It was as if there was too much hatred around him. Love had to manifest.

I wonder what you do when you feel you are amid hatred?

When was the last time you observed someone sharing love amid hate?

Was there a time in your life when you delivered love?

Was there a time when you were the one delivering hate?

If this was the case (and you found yourself delivering hate), take time now to forgive yourself and connect to God. God is love, and everything He is can be found in you.

That’s right, everything.

I’m reminded of other examples of sowing love amidst hate from Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Rosa Parks, and others.

What does it feel like to meditate on this idea of sowing love for your own life?

Have you ever imagined yourself to be the one to sow love amid hate?

The next line of St Francis’ prayers says,

where there is injury, pardon (forgive);

The picture of Christ on the cross is a brutal one.

He was slaughtered in front of crowds of people and nailed to the cross. While he was bleeding out and near suffocation, he looked to heaven and said, “forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

When you read the line in this prayer, “where there is injury, pardon (forgive),” what does it speak to you?

Can you remember a moment in your life when you sowed forgiveness amid pain?

Is there a moment when you watched a friend, family member, or stranger sow forgiveness amid pain?

Take time to consider what this would look like in your life. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal moments for you if you cannot see them.

Be honest with yourself. The scriptures tell us, “seek and you will find.”

In the final line of St. Francis’ prayer for today, he writes,

where there is doubt, faith;

I remember a time in my life when I was unemployed.

We had moved countries, and I was having a tough time finding work. I was discouraged and dejected. It seemed nothing was working.

Looking back, there were two things I did that changed my life.

The first thing was to get consistent with my spiritual time. The second was investing time as a family with God and church.

I’ll never forget one day at church when a pastor encouraged me about my future. I don’t think he knew what was going on in my life, but he gave me a verse and told me to hold onto what God was saying.

It was a critical moment for me. It brought an immense amount of faith into my spirit. Those words of faith instilled courage in me to keep going. It wasn’t much longer till my business was up and running.

What about you? Have you ever had a moment when someone put faith in you?

What did it do for you?

What did it feel like?

Have you ever been the one to put faith in another?

Do you remember what that felt like?

When was the last time you put faith in someone who was in doubt?

Is there anyone you know you need to reach out to?

If I could leave you with anything, it would be a challenge. I believe it is a challenge St. Francis left to all of us, which is this:

• Who can you sow love toward today?
• Who can you forgive?
• Who can you put faith into?

Take some time to reflect on this challenge. There is a reason why you are reading this right now.

“Give and you shall receive, good measure, pressed down and running over.” Luke 6:38

Let me know what resonated with you the most.

I’m rooting and praying for you.

Love. Coach Anthony Thompson