Sometimes a prayer takes years to write, impacted by changing scenarios—that was my journey.
In 2016, shortly before retiring after almost fifty years in education, my wife and I travelled through Eastern Europe on a river cruise. As a history teacher, I had long wanted to visit places that had shaped the twentieth century. I expected to learn more about history, though I didn’t expect my heart to be broken.
Three places left an indelible mark on me.
The first was the haunting Shoes on the Danube memorial in Budapest. Sixty pairs of iron shoes line the riverbank, remembering thousands of Jewish men, women and children who were executed there during the Second World War.
The second was the House of Terror Museum, also in Budapest, where the brutality of both fascist and communist oppression is preserved as a reminder of humanity’s capacity for cruelty.
The third was Terezín Concentration Camp near Prague. Walking through that camp, seeing the children’s artwork and reading their stories, I found myself asking a question that has stayed with me ever since: How should a follower of Jesus respond to a hurting world?
Like many people, I often feel overwhelmed when I see suffering, injustice, and violence. We cannot solve every problem, nor can we heal every wound. Jesus never called us to change the whole world on our own, just to faithfully love the people He places in front of us.
When I returned home to Australia, where I was living and teaching at the time, I spent many weeks praying and reflecting on everything I had experienced. During that time, two prayers emerged.
One became my Global Prayer for Peace, and the other was much shorter. At first it had only five simple lines:
Jesus, let me see with your eyes,
Hear with your ears,
Reach out with your hands,
Walk your talk with your feet,
And love with your love.
Every morning, I prayed those words, not because they were eloquent, but because they reminded me that following Jesus is not simply about believing the right things. It is about becoming more like Him.
Three years later, I was actually working on another book to encourage teachers in retirement, continuing to pray this untitled prayer each day. At the same time, I was doing some research on the remarkable apostle Barnabas, mentor to Paul after the latter’s conversion, moved by his humility, fallibility, courage, genuine goodness, unswerving faith, big-heartedness, and his selfless example of servant leadership.
A single line quietly entered my heart.
Connect with your heart.
It completed the prayer.
Only later I realised that without planning it, I had written a prayer that beautifully reflected the life of Barnabas.
Barnabas saw potential where others saw failure; he listened, reached out, lived what he believed, connected deeply with people, and, above all, he loved with extraordinary generosity and encouragement.
It is easy to understand why he was known during the early church days as “Son of Encouragement.”
My completed prayer became known simply as The Barnabas Prayer, which also evolved into a book about Barnabas’ life under the same title.
The Barnabas Prayer
Jesus, let me see with your eyes,
Hear with your ears,
Reach out with your hands,
Walk your talk with your feet,
Connect with your heart,
And love with your love.
In your precious name, I pray.
Amen.
— Robin Cox
I continue to pray these words every morning, a reminder that that changing the world rarely begins with grand gestures. It begins with seeing one person, listening to one story, offering one act of kindness, speaking one word of encouragement, or walking alongside one person who needs hope.
Over the years I have come to believe that encouragement is one of God’s most underestimated gifts. Every one of us can become a Barnabas in our own family, workplace, church, or community.
We may never change the whole world, but we can certainly change someone’s world.
That is where Jesus begins.
If this prayer resonates with you, I have made it available as a free download from my website. There is no sign-up, and no email list—just a simple prayer that I hope will encourage you as much as it has encouraged me over the years.
Perhaps, like me, you’ll discover that the simplest prayers are often the ones God uses most powerfully.
