Prayer For Acceptance Of Others
God, You alone are holy, yet You readily accept everyone. Your kingdom is totally inclusive. Thank you for Your unconditional love. "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" (1 John 3:1) Being perfect, You would have a right to be choosy about who You adopt as part of Your family, but You accept all of us, regardless of our race, age, gender or appearance. Thank you for offering forgiveness and salvation to anyone who asks for it.
I am humbled by Your unbiased love and my lack of ability to love like You do. I tend to pay less attention to ________, exclude ________, choose not to be around those who ________ and generally avoid people who are ________. I cannot claim to have Your love in me, nor is Your love evident in me, if I am not accepting of others. Please forgive me for not loving and accepting others as You do (1 John 4:11).
As I pray for my children, ________ and ________, I ask that You would help them readily accept others. I ask that they would intentionally include other kids at playtime, be quick to put an arm around a child who is feeling left out, and be willing to stand up for someone who is being teased. Please give them hearts of love that warmly accept others just as they are. When ________ and ________ are tempted to judge others, or to exclude those less fortunate, less talented or those who are just different, remind them of Romans 15:7: Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
Finally, I ask that You would give our family opportunities to be around people who are different and to care for those who often experience rejection. Let us be the avenue for Your love to be expressed to them. God, we have not seen You, but Your Word says that if we love one another, Your love is made complete in us. Please live in us so our family members are able to love others as You have loved us (1 John 4:11-12). Amen.
Dear loving God,
Sometimes things are Just too hard to take. Must I accept it all?
My life, my situations, my loved ones, even myself. It's not how I hoped and dreamed things would be.
Show me the way, oh Lord ,to accept. What must I do?
First, I look to your Son, so innocent and full of grace.
He took it all upon him for me.
Can I accept this? Can I accept this gift from heaven?
If so, then I can accept anything.
For your Spirit lets me see with the eyes of Christ. Eyes full of patience, full of mercy, and full of love.
He knew you alone Lord, can change everything, All things are yours.
Let me be like Jesus, Lord. Let me be like your Son.
In his holy name,
Amen.
Dear Lord Jesus, it's both settling and centering to begin this day with the assurance of your acceptance. You know everything about me, and still I'm fully and eternally accepted by God in you. You know my failures, fickleness, foolishness, faithlessness and yet you totally accept me. When I confess my sins, I don't inform you of anything you don't already know. In fact, I'm probably only am aware of 3 or 4% of my actual sins. It's absolutely overwhelming to be this known and this accepted, by you.
I'm the immature younger brother you welcomed home. I'm the self-righteous elder brother you constantly pursue. I'm the one lying at your feet others would stone, but you have loved. I've been up in the tree with Zacheus and down in the depths with Peter and you have accepted me.
But here comes the difficult part, Jesus. As you've accepted me, you're calling me to accept others. I'll need all the grace you promise to love like that, for there're a lot of my brothers and sisters in Christ with whom I disagree about many things including theology, politics, dress, issues of Christian liberty, women's issues, how to spend money, worship styles, what to do on Sunday, educating children, drinking alcohol, entertainment and that's just for starters.
Jesus, I need a bigger gospel-heart and more gospel-wisdom if I'm going to make headway in this calling. Please help me show kindness without compromising my convictions. Please teach me the difference between essential and non-essential matters. Please show me the difference between acceptance and acquiescence. Please free me from the limitations of my perspective, the prejudices of my heritage, and the insecurities of my comfort zone. Please free me from insincere niceness and the need to be right.
Let me remember that your promise to bring to completion the good work you began in me also applies to each of your children. Burn the conviction, indelibly into my heart: it brings YOU praise when I work hard at accepting others as you accept me. So very Amen, I pray, in your matchless and merciful name.
Gracious God, it's sometimes hard for me to understand or accept or love those who are different from me. I find myself wanting to change them so that they fit my accepted patterns. I know that the difference between us need not separate us, but my lack of understanding makes me want to stay within the safety of my own perceptions rather than embrace what seems foreign. Give me curiosity of mind so that I am open to the perspectives that others can offer me. Help me see the similarities that bind us together. Give me the courage to freely enter their experience in order to find you in a surprising new way. I ask this for the sake of your love. Amen.
Dear Gracious and Loving God,
As I take this time to be still, help me to let go of anxiousness and feel your peace.
Your Word says that you are love and where there is love there can be no fear.
Help me to let go of fear and receive your perfect love.
I come before you with heaviness because of being hurt by others.
Help me to accept the effect that their actions have had in my life and to let go of this hurt.
Holding onto past hurts Holding onto resentments and judgments weighs me down.
I release this hurt.
I release this weight on my body and spirit. I ask your love to carry me.
I let go of hurt, resentment and judgment.
I forgive those who have hurt me.
Because I practice awareness in all areas of my life, I am aware of self-criticism or poor choices.
I accept my actions. I forgive myself and let go of poor choices or self-criticism.
To receive or accept love, I let go of building walls of self-protection.
Help me to receive and accept love.
Help me to freely give love.
Help me not to strive for perfection but to make progress each day.
I accept the choices I make.
I can trust myself.
I make good choices.
Each day, help me to step into the glorious person you created me to be.
I accept and find comfort in knowingI am completely loved with your divine, perfect love.
In the name of your Son whose example lights our way,
Amen
Father, we have been accepted by Christ which gives us great purpose in our very existence. Likewise, we are told in Scripture to accept others in the same way that Christ accepted us, and in doing so we glorify You. It's easy to belong to a clique or want to run with the in crowd, but You want us to love and accept others, not by the world's criteria or by what is considered trendy or cool, but because many are looking for acceptance and instead face rejection. Help us to seek out the unlovely and undesirables instead of looking for those who are seen as the ones who might make us look even better to those around us. Help us to love others as You love us. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Heavenly Father,
I pray for all the souls on this planet that feel like they are not accepted and loved by others. May they feel your love, comfort, and peace all around them. I pray for all the souls that feel like they are alone and they have nobody else in this world.
May they feel you almighty and unconditional love. For all the people out there who struggle with self-acceptance, allow them to feel your loving presence, your comfort, and your peace.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.
Father, I'm praying for myself and all those in my immediate and extended family (name them)...
May we not only love but accept and enjoy each other. May Your love, joy, peace, and patience be at the heart of our relationships with one another, along with Your kindness and goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:2223a)
May we encourage each other, and build one another up in every circumstance. (1 Thessalonians 5:11)
May we be willing to love each other as unconditionally as You love us, for such love forgives the wrongs of others and makes up for their many personal faults. In love, help us forgive without holding on to anger, resentment, or disappointment. (1 Peter 4:8; Matthew 18:2122; Ephesians 4:26)
May we love and accept one another just as we are, not waiting for change or perfectionas in Christ You have accepted us. Help us be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other as You have forgiven us. (Ephesians 1:56; 4:32)
Help us not to bring past issues into the present.
In Jesus' name, amen.