Prayer with purpose: A guide for praying for Ouachita
January 01, 2020
Flannery O’Connor once wrote in her prayer journal, “Dear God, I cannot love Thee
the way I want to.” Sometimes I feel like that simple confession encapsulates my own
prayer life: “God, I don’t pray like I want to.” When I struggle in this area, it’s
often through prayer guides, scriptural prayers and devotional books that I find direction
and wisdom. And I have the feeling that I’m not alone in this. As we approached the
fall semester of 2016 we wondered if a prayer guide would help the many people who
love Ouachita be able to pray more specifically for the university.
In the guide, you’ll be walked through 21 different areas of campus life that you
can pray for. As an employee at OBU, I have the privilege of being able to physically
walk through the halls and around the buildings that house the people we’ll be praying
for during the next weeks. And though most alumni and families of students can’t be
here physically, you can have a very real spiritual presence on campus through prayer.
I am excited about our community—in Arkadelphia and beyond—praying for the same things
at the same time during these days.
August means a lot of new beginnings, a lot of excitement, but also a lot of anxiety.
Trust me when I say that your prayers are needed and appreciated. And when you don’t
love God or pray to Him the way you want to, find comfort that admitting that to Him
is a great opening to prayer.
2017 Prayer Guide:
James Taylor, a 1999 Ouachita graduate, serves as OBU’s director of campus ministries
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