Book of Prayers
The moment is here! We're excited to announce that Body Prayers is now accepting submissions for the "Book of Prayers," an anthology that boldly centers Black experiences and explores the power of praying for one another.
Do you have a prayer, story, or testimony that could inspire others?
We'd love to hear from you! Choose from three realms:
🌿 RECLAIM: Transformation and empowerment of the past and present.
🌊 SURRENDER: Embracing vulnerability and healing.
✨ CONJURE: Manifesting visions for the future
The "Book of Prayers" is a transformative collection of prayers, stories, rituals, and testimonies from the Black community, crafted to serve as a balm for Collective Healing. This book guides readers towards their purpose and inner God. Celebrating the full multi-dimensional spectrum of Blackness, "Book of Prayers" conjures a vision of hope and profound spiritual connection. you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
How would you move differently if you knew you were prayed for?
How different would your Community look if everyone was well?
Atlese Robinson, Twin Cities, MN
Realm: Reclaim
Morning
Morning is the best
Time to give praise for the suns
Grace. Gratitude is
Nurtured best upon
Blessed lips, for God knows peace
Resides on the mer-
ry mouth of prayer
A song to sooth the soul re-
pentant of sins co-
mitted from desire
Admittedly, I have mis
used this temple. Flesh
Tends to crave what can
Cause decay. Sweet ecstasy
Is enough to send me
High. Into the thighs
Of someone I don’t love. Lust
Don’t ask for much, but
Everything I own.
Deliverance must be on
Me to claim. God has
Somehow found a way
To love me awake again
So I’m writing this
Morning prayer, Hope
Full that I will learn to be
Better than my yesterdays
Sharon Bridgforth, Los Angeles, CA
Realm: Surrender
You Are Not Alone
A Prayer/For Remembering
May you put your feet in Water.
May you place your hands in dirt.
May you find soft places to lean/and be held.
May you remember to breathe.
May you sing the songs that break your heart/Open.
May you twirl and release.
May you shimmy and Shine.
May you laugh loud and long/often.
May you root and expand.
May you See when you look.
May you Know what you Know.
May you be Filled with Inspiration.
May you treat yourself tenderly.
May you show up for and receive support.
May you flow and flower mightily.
May you walk with Grace.
May you feel the Ancestors Blessing you.
May you rest assured.
May you say Yes to the Divine in you.
May you know that you are Loved.
May you Love yourself.
May you Love yourself.
May you Love yourself.
May you Love yourself
and fly
DejaJoelle, Twin Cities, MN
Realm: Surrender
TGFBQ
All my life, my identity as a Fat, Black, queer woman has informed the way I navigated the world. I’m supposed to be the nurturer—the person that someone doesn’t love seriously. They just call when they need a “pick me up.”
“I know you’re always going to be there,” they say. To them, that’s a compliment, letting me know I’m SOLID. What if I don’t want to be solid anymore? What if I want to be like dust and settle in spaces where no one visits? I would say water, but I don’t even feel like quenching anyone’s thirst anymore. What if I wanted to be a star, admired and untouched? Why must I be touched and solid? Why do I feel I owe the world that? I often wonder what my life would be like if I were untouched—untouched by racism, untouched by rape, untouched by death and abandonment. Does "untouched" mean "unloved"? I’m still learning what touch means, letting my body be the compass and listening to my ancestors about what to do. But they too have been touched.
I want to fall.
I want to fall into another’s arms and let someone else be SOLID. It’s not healthy to be solid all the time. Where will I fit my father’s embrace and the sway of my mother’s hips? Where is there space for uncontrollable laughter and the Holy Ghost on Sunday mornings?
*White gloves carry a collection plate—an offering for Fat, Black queers.
Thank God for Fat, Black queers.*
Umi IMAN - Atlanta, GA
Realm: Conjure
PRayers for PRayers
I pray that you never outgrow prayer and that it will remain a constant safe space for you.
I pray that you remember that there is no such thing as an unanswered prayer. There’s only YES, YES…but be patient, or YES, but in the form of something better.
I pray that from the time your prayer comes up from your heart, parts from your lips, soars up to the heavens, and then rains down upon you in the form of a tangible gift or an experience you prayed for, you never give up on your prayer.
I pray you remember that prayer has never asked anything of you but to believe. So can you just find a way to believe? Can you find a way to be at peace with the fact that your prayers have their own timeline, life-cycle, and path…leading to you?
I pray that once you reunite with your prayer, when your prayer is answered and you are within the experience you prayed for, it gives you more and more reasons to keep on praying.
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We will send you an email when we get your prayer then we will keep you posted along the way.
You will be notified by April 1st 2025.
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Yes! Submit as many prayers as you would like. Not all. of them will be selected though.
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Currently, we don’t have the funding to pay anyone for their submissions. There will be other opportunities to share that may be beneficial to you in future Community Experiences.