A Prayer for Students of Communication

praying your way through university #8

My dear friends Joy Qualls and Ryan Beaty, who are both communications scholars, wrote me separately after seeing my series of prayers for Evangel, and asked me to write a prayer for their departments. Joy is associate dean and associate professor of communications at Biola, and Ryan Beaty is completing his doctoral work at the University of Oklahoma.

On the evidence of two witnesses, I assumed the Spirit was speaking, so I wrote one.

By way of reminder, this prayer, like the others, is modeled on a medieval art form called a florilegium which means “flower-gathering.” Each phrase of the prayer comes from a passage of Scripture (I’ve footnoted them). Each Scripture is like a flower from a different plant that, when brought together, creates a new and uniquely beautiful “bouquet.” They have a trinitarian structure, and (generally) follow the timeline of the Scriptures, moving from Creation and the OT, to Jesus, to the Spirit and the life of the world to come. The hope is that students will learn to pray in trinitarian fashion, and that they’ll get some biblical literacy while they do.

You can find a fuller explanation of my prayer writing here.

If you share this prayer, please link this page for the Scripture references.

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Our Father, Creator of heaven and earth,

Deep calls out to deep.¹

Be not silent, O God of my praise!²

You said, “let there be,” and there was;³

“Go, and I will bless you;”⁴

And, “Let my people go!”⁵

You call us your children with the Spirit descending like a dove.⁶

Feed our bellies with the scroll sweet as honey, that we might speak,⁷

And may we write in a book all the words you have spoken.⁸

Jesus Christ, the Word of God,

Day to day pours out speech,

And night to night reveals knowledge.⁹

You speak in parables,

And so utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.¹⁰

We do not live on bread alone,

But by the Word: your flesh and your blood.¹¹

Make us unlike the scribes, to speak with authority.¹²

And may the truth set us free.¹³

Holy Spirit, Who gives us utterance,¹⁴

You are the Spirit of truth.¹⁵

Open our lips that our mouths might proclaim your praise.¹⁶

May our tongues not be noisy gongs or clanging cymbals,¹⁷

But gracious, seasoned with salt, so that we may know how to answer each person.¹⁸

May we destroy the wisdom of the wise with the foolishness of Christ,¹⁹

And so be stewards of the mystery of God.²⁰

The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come,”²¹

With love that never ends.²²

To the God of gods, Lord of kings, and Revealer of mysteries—²³

Amen.

1. Psalm 42:7

2. Psalm 109:1

3. Genesis 1

4. Genesis 12:1-2

5. Exodus 5:1

6. Mark 1:10

7. Ezekiel 3:1-3

8. Jeremiah 30:2; Revelation 1:11

9. Psalm 19:2

10. Matthew 13:34

11. Matthew 4:4; John 6:53

12. Mark 1:22

13. John 8:32

14. Acts 2:4

15. John 14:17

16. Psalm 51:15

17. 1 Corinthians 13:1

18. Colossians 4:6

19. 1 Corinthians 1:18-19

20. 1 Corinthians 4:1

21. Revelation 22:17

22. 1 Corinthians 13:8

23. Daniel 2:47