Here is another one of my favorite prayers. I love this prayer not because it provides me with words to pray every day but because it reveals how immature I still am as a Christian and how far I need to go to be like Christ. It is called the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi. He was an Italian Catholic friar who founded the religious order of the Franciscans. This prayer is often associated with St. Francis, and if he was the genuine author, he must have had the heart and the mind of Christ. No one can pray this prayer without it. In my opinion, this is a prayer that only Jesus can pray, and anyone who can utter these words has come close to imitating him. Can you utter these words in prayer without any pretense and hypocrisy? If you truly believe that God answers prayers, would you genuinely offer this prayer to Him? Would you pray this prayer knowing that God would lead you to live a sacrificial life like Christ, who was offered as a peace offering to bring peace between God and mankind and between us? Of Jesus, Isaiah prophesied,

“He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.” (Isa.53:3-6)

This is how Jesus prayed, “Make me an instrument of peace.” He did not just pray with words but prayed with action, and his life was offered up as a peace offering. To be honest, I cannot say this prayer. To me, this is a model prayer that I genuinely hope to utter one day. Until then, I will read this prayer and pray, “God, make me like Jesus so I can make this prayer my prayer.” Apostle Paul, who I believe can sincerely pray this prayer, wrote,

“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” (Rom.6:12-13)

God’s desire and command for His servants is to live as His instruments of righteousness, peace, and love, and this prayer is a prayer that every Christian must strive to utter. More than ever, our world needs Christians who can pray this prayer, and even go far as to offer his or her life as an instrument in God’s hand so He can bring love, pardon, faith, hope, light, and joy.