A thought on old prayers.

As you know, every Sunday I share here the prayer that I will be praying in the hospital chapel that day. These prayers reflect the Bible passages that are part of the service for that day. The passages are from the Revised Common Lectionary, a three-year cycle of readings.

Often, I use the prayer I wrote three years before, after reviewing it to make sure it still makes sense.

I’m comfortable with “reusing” these written and spoken statements to God. There is precedent from the Psalms,...