Circle prayers come from the Celtic tradition. They are an ancient and beautiful way to seek God’s protection and blessing by creating a boundary around yourself. Within that boundary, you ask God to bring in all that you need while keeping harm and evil outside its bounds.

What I love about circle prayers is how flexible and personal they are. You can use them to address your concerns or desires, and they often reveal connections you hadn’t noticed before.

Let me show you an easy way to write your own circle prayer using a simple graphic organizer. Here’s how it works:

1. Draw a circle on a page. Inside the circle, write down all the things you want God to protect or bless you with. These could be concrete (like my family or my work) or abstract (like peace or courage). Ask yourself: What do I want to gather to myself?
2. Outside the circle, write the things you want to keep away—what you need protection from or want to banish. These could also be concrete or abstract.
3. To create your prayer, pair one thing from inside the circle with something outside it. Ask God to keep the circled element close and the uncircled element far away. For example, you might pray, “Keep peace near and anxiety afar.” Repeat this pairing process as many times as you like.

Want an example? Here’s the Circle Prayer I wrote this morning:

Circle me, Lord: Keep the light of hope alive in my heart; do not let fear snuff it out.

Circle me, Lord: Tend the spark of my creativity and purpose so that I may serve you; protect that spark from the cold winds of despair and overwhelm.

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Circle us, Lord: So that I may seek, find, and serve Christ in all people, evicting no one from my care.

In the name of Jesus who came for us all: Amen.

This approach to writing a Circle Prayer can be used again and again, resulting in a new prayer every time that reflects your changing needs. Give it a try, and let me know how it goes! Leave a comment to tell me how this approach worked for you—and feel free to share your prayer in the comments. I’d love to read it.

As always, thank you for reading. And thank you for allowing me to walk this devotional path with you.