Rick Warren’s Invocation: The Text

Here’s the link. Without the goofs in that transcript, and for convenience, in an easier-to-read presentation, here’s the text of Pastor Rick Warren's invocation:

Let us pray.

Almighty God, our Father, everything we see and everything we can’t see exists because of you alone. It all comes from you, it all belongs to you. It all exists for your glory. History is your story. The Scripture tells us “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God; the Lord is one.” And you are the compassionate and merciful one. And you are loving to everyone you have made.

Now today, we rejoice not only in America’s peaceful transfer of power for the 44th time. We celebrate a hinge-point of history with the inauguration of our first African-American president of the United States.

We are so grateful to live in this land, a land of unequaled possibility, where the son of an African immigrant can rise to the highest level of our leadership.

And we know today that Dr. King and a great cloud of witnesses are shouting in Heaven.

Give to our new president Barack Obama the wisdom to lead us with humility, the courage to lead us with integrity, the compassion to lead us with generosity. Bless and protect him, his family, Vice President Biden, the Cabinet, and every one of our freely elected leaders.

Help us, O God, to remember that we are Americans, united not by race or religion or blood, but to our commitment to freedom and justice for all.

When we focus on ourselves, when we fight each other, when we forget you, forgive us. When we presume that our greatness and our prosperity is ours alone, forgive us. When we fail to treat our fellow human beings and all the Earth with the respect that they deserve, forgive us.

And as we face these difficult days ahead, may we have a new birth of clarity in our aims, responsibility in our actions, humility in our approaches, and civility in our attitudes, even when we differ.

Help us to share, to serve and to seek the common good of all.

May all people of good will today join together to work for a more just, a more healthy and a more prosperous nation and a peaceful planet. And may we never forget that one day all nations and all people will stand accountable before you.

We now commit our new president and his wife, Michelle and his daughters, Malia and Sasha, into your loving care.

I humbly ask this in the name of the one who changed my life, Yeshua, Issa, Jésus, Jesus, who taught us to pray, “Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

Amen.

Comments

[Jim]

if only it had been 'rich warren' (as you have above in your first paragraph) who prayed... whoever he is, he could have actually prayed instead of preaching a rambling string of nonsense like RICK warren did.

[JohnFH]

Hi Jim,

Thanks for pointing out the typo. I love it how one Baptist finds it so natural to demean another Baptist in public. Not for me.

[James Pate]

What do you think about how Rick Warren dealt with Jesus in that prayer? Was he trying to be politically-correct--using "I" statements and saying Jesus' name in diverse languages?

[JohnFH]

Hi James,

I think he was trying to be inclusive in a way that, nonetheless, could easily be misunderstood. It is true, for example, that Jesus = Issa is a known quantity in Islam. But of course, Issa is not the Jesus of the four gospels.

[James Pate]

You know, as I read the Koran, I wonder exactly how Islam views Jesus. I get the part about him being a prophet. But the Koran also calls him the Messiah. There's one passage that seems to say people will encounter Jesus at their deaths. Do you have any thoughts on this? I may also ask this one Muslim who visits my blog.

[Bob MacDonald]

I think a prayer for correction would be appropriate here: "When we focus on ourselves, when we fight each other, when we forget you," reprove us. - forgive - yes but God forbid it should be without correction.

I had only one quibble with Barak Obama's speech - I would have used a divine passive at one point. (But then I would not have written that speech!) Congratulations all - may your and our collective responses be genuine and fruitful.

[JohnFH]

Hi Bob,

I think your suggestion would have made Warren's prayer stronger: forgive, but also correct.

[Peter Kirk]

Isa (or Issa) is the Jesus of the four gospels in Arabic translation, and for that matter in translation into many languages influenced by Arabic. This is the form of a name in a language, not in a religion.

[JohnFH]

Right Peter, but Rick Warren clearly used it as a way of reaching out to Muslims.

[steph]

Of course Jesus is understood differently in different religions. So is heaven, so is resurrection, so is God. But if you're speaking to a Muslim in Arabic, you would say Issa but mean the Christians' Jesus - what's to be misunderstood? Calling him Jesus won't make Muslims think of the Christians' Jesus, they'll still think of Issa in the Quran. Why should people be offended? It seems so self centred. Why not 'reach out to Muslims' and other religious groups?

Not that I'm defending Rick Warren, or the prayer. He needs to lose a few.

[Peter Kirk]

John, I'm sure Rick was using this as a way to reach out to Muslims, as well as Middle Eastern Christians. But his Spanish Jesus was not reaching out to people of other religions. So, unlike Steph, I do defend Rick for this excellent prayer.