A Prayer About Culture Wars

When my values clash with those of the world

DEAR JESUS,

You are perfect, and when you lived on earth, you did everything right—no mistakes, no slipups, no errors, no sins. Yet you were misunderstood, slandered, hated, betrayed, deserted, despised, and rejected. Just before facing the fate you knew awaited, you explained to the disciples that your followers also would have trouble in the world because we, too, would be at odds with societal norms and conventional wisdom. You warned that we would face opposition and persecution for following you. I felt that today, and every day your prediction is being fulfilled for me. Daily life seems like a war zone as I am assaulted with contrary values, morals, and beliefs. I see a growing gap between how you want me to live and what is pictured as a “normal” lifestyle. And I feel increasingly marginalized and ostracized. Please give me the courage to stand for your truth in a society of relativism, to hold to biblical morality in a culture of hedonism, and to proclaim, with love and despite the personal consequences, that you are the only way.

[Jesus said,] “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.” John 15:18-19