My Dayenu

Any one of the works that God has done in my life would have been enough.

Update 4-12-2026: as one commenter pointed out, while Christians do often practice the Dayenu, it is actually traditionally a Jewish prayer.

For those who aren’t familiar with the term, the Dayenu is a traditional Christian prayer recited (or sung) during the Passover Seder. The word means “It would have been enough” or “it would have been sufficient.”

The Dayenu is traditionally 15 lines describing God’s deliverance of the Jews from Egypt in the Book of Exodus. However, in the TV series The Chosen, the woman who follow Jesus write their own Dayenu, which inspired me to take a shot at writing my own as well.

Dear Lord,

If You had given me the gift of stories to help me deal with the rough parts of my childhood by giving me a way to escape into something both true and magical, but hadn’t given me loving and wonderful parents, it would have been enough.

If You had given me amazing parents, but hadn’t helped me to find and know You by writing fiction when I was at my lowest, it would have been enough.

If You had shown me how to find You by writing fiction, but hadn’t introduced me to the right spiritual group at the right time to pick up the broken pieces of my life, it would have been enough.

If You had introduced me to the spiritual group but hadn’t helped me to escape from a soul-sucking corporate job, it would have been enough.

If You had helped me to leave corporate but hadn’t taken away my fear of intimacy, it would have been enough.

If You had taken away my fear of intimacy but hadn’t introduced me to my amazing and beautiful wife, it would have been enough.

If You had introduced us but hadn’t made our marriage deeper and more beautiful this last year than I could have imagined, it would have been enough.

If You had strengthened our marriage but hadn’t ushered me into my dream job of writing for a living, it would have been enough.

If You had helped me find my dream job but hadn’t helped me to find rest and peace in You this past year, it would have been enough.

If You had helped me to find rest and peace in You, but hadn’t given me amazing clients who teach me a ton about my industry and give my wife and me financial security, it would have been enough.

If You had given me financial security but hadn’t given me an amazing opportunity to witness Your work in prison every week, it would have been enough.

If You had enabled me to volunteer in prison every week but hadn’t laid a pathway for me to train to become a prison chaplain, it would have been enough.

If You had opened a way for me to eventually become a prison chaplain but hadn’t cut away the root cause of my sense of shame, it would have been enough.

If You had removed (most of) my shame but not helped me to know Your love and to enjoy being Your child, it would have been enough.

If You had helped me to know You but hadn’t promised me heaven for all eternity, it would have been enough.

* * *

In our transactional culture, we are (or at least I am) prone to thinking about God in terms of “What have you done for me lately?” Among other wonderful benefits, I think this Dayenu prayer is a good way to pause, reflect, counteract that impulse if we have it, and instead grow closer to God by seeing all of the wonderful ways in which He has already blessed us.

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