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A Christian Amidah*
A Joyous Affirmation of Faith
Adapted By
Thomas F. Fischer, M.Div., M.S.A.

Number 54

God, our ancestors worshiped You. As Abraham and Sarah, Rebecca and Isaac, Rachel, Leah and Jacob stood in awe before you, we, too, reach for You. You are infinite, awesome, transcendent. You are the source of all that lives. We, their distant descendants, draw strength from the way in which their lives were shaped and strengthened by You. We praise You, God, Guardian of Abraham.

 

Your power sustains the universe. Your breath brings that which is dead to life. You care for those who live with unending compassion. Your limitless love guarantees us that life will triumph over death, Your will triumphs our will, Your plan supercedes our plan, Your healing overpowers sickness. Your love upholds the exhausted, frees the enslaved, and keeps unending hope alive in Your control in all our lives. You are sacred, even as You are mysterious. Those who seek Your holiness worship you with their entire lives and being. We praise You, God, the Ultimate Sacred Mystery.

 

Help us find our way back to Your Truth again and again, and to obey You with trusting faith and receive wholeness and healing in Your presence. We praise You, God, for You are always ready to help us start again and again and again anew in Your grace.

 

Forgive our failures with a parent’s love, overlook our shortcomings with regal generosity, for You are gentle and gracious. How can we but praise You, God of mercy, love, grace, and forgiveness!

 

Lord, look on our suffering, hide us under your wings in struggles, and save us soon. We praise You, God, our people’s only sure Hope of Redemption.

 

Send true healing for all our pains. Heal us, O God, the Source of all healing, keep us in health. We praise You, God, from whom all healing comes.

 

May our ancient sense of justice be renewed, our classic sources of wisdom recovered. May sorrow and sighing vanish from our midst. May Your tenderness and pity, justice and compassion always govern our lives. We praise You, God of kindness and justice.

 

May malice, and ill wish perish quickly, may strife, enmity and hatred cease. Cause all arrogance to wither away quickly. We praise You, God. Cause Your awesome power to triumph resoundingly over evil.

 

Let Your love shine once more on Your holy people. Dwell among them with Your presence even as You filled the Temple with Your presence in the day of Solomon. We praise You, God, whose loving presence permeates creation and even our entire being.

 

When we cry out, hear us with compassion; gently take our prayers and lovingly listen as we reach toward You with love and hope. Do not send us away empty. We praise You, God, who cherishes prayer.

 

You are our God today as You were our ancestors’ God through all the ages. You are the Firm Foundation of our lives; we are simply Yours in gratitude and love. Our lives are safe in Your hand and so we entrust our souls to Your care. Restore and heighten our sense of wonder and our praise of your miracles and kindness at dawn, dusk, midnight, and noon. We praise You, O Gentle One.

 

You are compassionate, Your love is eternal. Let all the living confront You with thankfulness, delight and truth. We praise You, God. You are the touchstone of grace and joy.

 

O God, give peace and serenity to Your chosen people. Give love and mercy, life and goodness, to all. Consider us kindly and graciously, blessing us with tranquility in all times and in every season.

 

God, we praise You, for Your greatest blessing...is peace.

* Freely adapted by Thomas F. Fischer from Rabbi Andre Ungar’s English rendering of the Siddur Sim Shalom of the Rabbinical Assembly, edited by Rabbi Jules Harlow. Source: Harold Kushner, To Life: A Celebration of Jewish Being and Thinking. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1993, pp. 175-180.

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