Dear Heavenly Father,
Every good and perfect gift comes from you. The very fact that I am now about to defend my dissertation is due to your mercy and grace. Thank you for letting me get this far. Thank you for my advisor, who invested his time in my work. Thank you for my parents, my first Bible teachers. Thank you for my friends and their encouragement. Thank you especially for my local church, the love and encouragement they have shown me. Thank you for relatively good health throughout my education. And thank you for the teachers here at this school and all I have learned from them.
Facing my defense, I am naturally encountering some trepidation. May I not struggle with worry or fear, both of which would be contrary to your love. But may I rather have the confidence that your child should have, that my value to your kingdom lies not in degrees or academic accomplishments but in service to others and the proclamation of the Gospel.
Two requests I bring to you. First of all, in all the time I have spent studying 1 Peter, please grant that I "get it." In other words, that I have fairly represented the Apostle Peter and what he wrote under the inspiration of your Holy Spirit. If, after all that work, I have failed to understand Peter and his epistle, then my dissertation is a failure. Worse yet, if I lead others astray by my work, then I have become a potential hindrance to the church and its understanding of Scripture. Please Lord, may that not happen. Grant that, although my work may be far from perfect, I have at least "gotten" some of what Peter was trying to say and not grossly misrepresented him. Along with that, may this dissertation ultimately glorify you in its study of Scripture.
Secondly, help me in my defense. May I not be overly-sensitive when offered correction or rebuke, but may I also know the difference between personal opinion and areas where I clearly could have done better. Help me not to be arrogant on the one hand, but also not to be cowardly. May I listen to the council of my elders, and may the defense be a reasonably edifying experience for all involved. Bless my advisor, and bless both my secondary reader and my outside reader. Give them wisdom in their analysis. Thank you for their investment in reading and commenting on my dissertation.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.
praying for you this week brother!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
ReplyDeleteI really think that aside from sheer concentration and focus, grad student should also have good faith when it comes to their dissertation writing. It would certainly be good to help them not give up and show tiredness when they are writing or undergoing ABD, which we all know can be tedious and hard. Anyway, I hope you successfully defended your dissertation.
ReplyDeleteVery true, thanks!
ReplyDeleteGood to before you start everything, you stood up for heavenly father first. Pretty good start. Wish thru your online dissertation topics, I could improve mine too. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteA good prayer! I figured this dissertation must have been completed successfully. May God's help come upon me too at this stage of waiting for approval and comments on my dissertation draft. I pray that my work will also bear with it the Divine Light, even though this task is an academic one. I pray to hear some good news soon and some good advices from my advisor. Glory to God! Amen!
ReplyDeleteI'm going through a very difficult dissertation process. This prayer is helping me gain perspective with the entire process. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I hope the Lord helps you through your dissertation. Don't be afraid to take a week or so off from it to just clear your head (I had to do that).
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