There are many books in my library that are a direct result of the input of fellow book-loving friends. Prayers for a Privileged People by Walter Brueggeman is one such book, and i have Phil Aud to thank for his recommendation.

Here is one of the prayers from this brilliant book...

Sovereign

by Walter Brueggeman

We name you king, Lord, sovereign.
  We trust you, except
        sometimes we do not.
        We take matters into our own hands.

We fashion power and authority and sovereignty;
    enforced by law and bureaucracy and weapons,
        we think to make ourselves safe.
    And then learn, staggeringly,
        how insufficient is our product,
        how think is our law,
        how ineffective is our bureaucracy,
        how impotent our weapons.

We are driven back to you—
            your will,
            your purpose,
            your requirements:
                  care for land
                  care for neighbor
                  care for future.

We name you king, Lord, sovereign—
        so undemocratic!
    and in naming become aware of our status
        before you... loved, sent, summoned.
        We pray in the name of the loved, sent, summoned Jesus.