A Prayer for Compassion

God,

I’ve come to the realization that I don’t really care about anyone else as I should. I am so self-consumed that I don’t have enough energy left over to give to others in a meaningful way. I just don’t have enough sympathy and compassion toward my friends and family as I want. I need help to loves others as You love them.

Thank You for working in the circumstances of my life to bring me to this place of realization. Now, help me do something about it. Transform me from who I have been into the person that I can be. Make me into a person that makes a difference. I want to change lives. Yet, I don’t have what it takes to do so within me. I need You to plant those seeds in me.

I’m tired of wasting my life on the empty pursuit of that which brings me pleasure, comfort, and security. Such pursuits have brought me none of these things. They have only left me empty inside and completely spent. You said that if I try to save my life, I will lose it. But, if I lose my life on You and others, I will find real life. Help me find that kind of life.

I want to give away my life. I want to pour myself into the lives of others. To make that happen, I need You to give me life. I cannot give away what I do not have. Come and deposit in me what You want me to invest in the lives of others. Give me the strength and courage to be used by You in profound ways to touch countless lives.

I entrust all of these things to You. Help me to do my part of having a willing and obedient heart. Take away my heart of stone and give me in its place a soft tender heart that is responsive to the movement of Your Holy Spirit (Ezekiel 11:19; Ezekiel 36:26; Jeremiah 31:33; Hebrews 8:10).

In the mighty name of Jesus, I pray, Amen.