This rock, which bears a cross, is near the marker in Old Point Comfort, VA, where the first enslaved Africans were brought. To me, it signifies that freedom was always inevitable.

Dear Gracious and Delivering God,

We thank You for a good, new day! We give You thanks because Your mercy endures forever. Thank You for being a Deliverer. Thank You for being a Strongtower. You have watched over us and kept us. Thank You for catching us when we have stumbled and fallen. Thank You that Your character overrides our poor decision-making. Thank You for Your grace!

We celebrate You for Your mighty acts, O God! When we were bound by inaction, insecurities or fear, You set us free. When we were trapped by other people’s opinions, You delivered us. When we were relegated by others to a box that underestimated and devalued us because of who You created us to be, You liberated and opened doors for us.

Help us to walk in freedom and make sure others are able to do the same. Help us to be a liberating force in this world. Where there is poverty, oppression, injustice, disease, help us to fight it with the empowering force of Your love and the resources You have entrusted to us. When we are enslaved by ideologies or practices that diminish others or keep them bound, deliver us from ourselves. Help us to see others as You see them and then do what we can to make sure their lives and circumstances reflect Your vision.

We lift up those to You today who need freedom to be fully manifest in their realities here on earth. You know the conditions, the circumstance in which deliverance is needed in the lives of Your people. God, we humbly ask You to move on our behalf. For those who are dealing with an addiction, those who are caught up in gang violence, those whose bodies are racked with pain, those who are dealing with mental health issues, we pray that You would move in a powerful way in their lives. For those who are struggling to make ends meet, those who are weighed down by family drama, those who physically, emotionally and spiritually depleted, we ask that You would fill them and provide for their every need. For those caught in systems of oppression, we pray that deliverance and liberation would come and that we would be a part of bringing it to pass.

God, we know You to be a Deliverer, a Healer, a Provider, a Way-Maker, a Burden-Bearer, a Liberator of Your people. We pray that You would hear our cries and respond in accordance with Your mercy and who we know You to be. We pray also that You would stay the hand of the enemy, who seeks to devour us. Cover us and keep us. Protect us, walk with us, endue us with Your power, we do pray.

And, we will remember to give You praise, to rejoice in You, to sing a new song, to not let the rocks cry out for us, to give You glory!

It’s in the Name of Jesus, who died that we might have life and who rose to liberate us from death, we pray. Amen.