Word of Encouragement (05/09/2022)

Here is another prayer of John Baillie’s to begin a new week:

“LORD, you are everywhere, and it is beneath your eye that all lives are lived; please grant that all my purposes and actions today may be honorable and gracious.

May I be just and true in all my dealings.

May no mean or unworthy thought have a moment’s place in my mind.

May my motives be transparent to all.

May my word be my bond.

May I not take unfair advantage of anyone.

May I be kind in my judgment of others.

May I be unbiased in my opinions.

May I be loyal to my friends and generous to my opponents.

May I face adversity with courage.

May I not ask or expect too much for myself.

“Yet, Lord, do not let me rest content with an ideal of humanity that is less than what was shown to us in Jesus. Give me the mind of Christ. May I not rest until I am like him in all his fullness. May I listen to Jesus’ question: What are you doing more than others? And so may the three Christian graces of faith, hope, and love be more and more formed within me, until all I do and say brings honor to Jesus and his gospel.

“O God, you proved your love to us in the passion and death of Jesus Christ our Lord; may the power of his cross be with me today. May I love as he loved. May I be obedient even to death. As I lean on his cross may I not refuse my own; but rather may I bear it by the strength of his.

“O Lord, you have placed the solitary in families; I ask for your heavenly blessing for all the members of my household, all my neighbors, and all my fellow citizens. May Christ rule in every heart and his law be honored in every home. May every knee bend before him and every tongue confess that he is Lord. Amen.”

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