Standing in the Need of Prayer

A Celebration of Black Prayer

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• Publisher: Free Press
• Year: 2008
• Print ISBN: 9780743234665
• eBook ISBN: 9780743253673
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Striking photographs and powerful prayers drawn from the collections of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture span the broad spectrum of black religious traditions through the ages. From the darkest days on slave ships to the defiant times of the Civil Rights Movement, prayer has embodied the most intense expression of African and African-American spirituality. As Mrs. Coretta Scott King writes in her foreword to Standing in the Need of Prayer, "It is said that every prayer is heard and every prayer is answered in some way [and] I still believe that the millions of prayers spoken by African Americans from the Middle Passage on down to today have been heard by a righteous and loving God." This extraordinary volume reflects the struggle, despair, determination, and triumph of the black experience during the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries. Drawing from faiths as diverse as Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Vodou, the book also includes prayers from some of history's most powerful voices, among them Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, and Martin Luther King, Jr. At once beautiful and evocative, Standing in the Need of Prayer captures the most varied, striking, and powerful photographic and poetic expressions of prayer in a joyous celebration of the rich spiritual roots of a courageous people whose incredible spiritual journey will inspire generations to come.

Dear Father … we come before You on our knees this evening to ask You to watch over us and hold back the hand of the destroying angel. Lord, sprinkle the doorpost of this house with the blood of the Lamb to keep all the wicked men away. Lord, we praying for every mother’s son and daughter everywhere in the world but we want You to take special care of this girl here tonight, Lord, and don’t let no evil come nigh her. We know You’s able to do it, Lord, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

—JAMES BALDWIN FROM GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN

RICHARD SAUNDERS

Gracious God, we come before you with thanksgiving that our [child] is developing his own relationship with you. We pray that your Holy Spirit will guide him and that he may come to know and love you as heavenly parent and faithful friend. O God, we pray that he will have discernment to know your will and courage to follow your will for his life. Keep him, dear God, even as Jesus prayed that you would keep the disciples and the church.

—WILLIAM D. WATLEY “FAITH”

ROLAND CHARLES FINE ART COLLECTION, COURTESY DEBORAH CHARLES

RICHARD SAUNDERS

Heavenly Father, help me to cast my cares upon you, to take time to pray, and be renewed each day in the healing waters of godly fellowship. Amen.

—JOANN STEVENS “A SISTERLY CELEBRATION” FROM SISTER TO SISTER DEVOTIONS FOR AND FROM AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN

SULAIMAN ELLISON

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, One God, Amen. We believe and offer our supplications unto the Holy Trinity. We denounce Satan in the sight of the Holy Mother Orthodox Church. And in the presence of the Virgin Mary whom is Zion for ever and ever. Amen.

—ETHIOPIAN ORTHODOX TEWAHEDO PRAYER

We are here this evening, Jesus

Oh yeah

We can’t do nothing without you

Uh huh

Come Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove

Oh yeah

With all thou quickening power

Power!

—JAMES BROWN “YOU KNOW THE PURPOSE OF OUR GATHERING, JESUS”

GILBERTO WILSON

© 1989 ROBERT A. SENGSTACKE

Those who believe, and work righteousness, their Lord will guide them because of their Faith: beneath them will flow rivers in Gardens of Bliss. (This will be) their prayer therein: “Glory to Thee, O Allah!” and “Peace” will be their greeting therein. And the close of their prayer will be: “Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds!”

—QUR’ÂN, CHAPTER 10: 9-10

Love that is of God encourages growth and models healthy relationships. Yes, love that is of God is stubborn, forgiving, and unconditional—not just when the object of that love is the other but also when the object is the self. This is how our daughters will begin to learn of God’s love. Beloved, let us love our daughters as God has loved us.

—REVEREND EMMA JORDAN-SIMPSON “LOVING OUR DAUGHTERS”

STEVE HART

May you be for us a moon of joy and happiness. Let the young become strong and the grown man maintain his strength, the pregnant woman be delivered and the woman who has given birth suckle her child. Let the stranger come to the end of his journey and those who remain at home dwell safely in their houses. Let the flocks that go to feed in the pastures return happily. May you be a moon of harvest and of calves. May you be a moon of restoration and of good health.

—“BE FOR US A MOON OF JOY” TRADITIONAL ETHIOPIAN PRAYER

SULAIMAN ELLISON

RICHARD SAUNDERS

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds,
The Beneficent, the Merciful,
Master of the day of Requital.
Thee do we serve and Thee do we beseech for help.
Guide us on the right path, the path of those upon whom

Thou hast bestowed favours,

Not those upon whom wrath is brought down,

No...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Chapter 1
• Notes
• Permissions
• Index