(Taken from the book Every Moment Holy)
"O Christ our rest,
We pause amidst the labors of this day
to remember the best reasons for our laboring.
We labor, O Lord, as stewards of
your creation, and as stewards of the gifts
you have apportioned to each of us
for the good of all.
Bless then the works of our hands
and minds and hearts, O God.
that they might bear fruit for your greater purposes.
May our work this day
be rendered first as service to you, that the benefits
of it might be eternal.
Receive this, the offering of our labors, O Lord.
Amen.
If our hearts have already been tempted this day
to believe anything about ourselves or others
that does not take into account your creation,
your mercy, your sacrifice, your grace,
your forgiveness, your redemption,
and your unshakeable love, O God,
remind us again of these truths,
giving us faith enough to believe
and hope enough to choose
to embrace them again and again.
Or if we have been swayed from the place of
resting in your grace today - swayed by shame,
by error, by vanity, by pride, or by love of the
praise of people, act O Holy Spirit!
Reveal our error, convict conscience,
and bring us to quick repentance.
Rekindle our affections, restoring them again
to their one worthy object, who is Christ,
and who alone holds the words of eternal life.
Let us now consider such words.
Shape our thoughts O Lord, by your truth,
even as you shape our hearts by your love.
Now grant us strength and grace, O God,
sufficient to the remains of the day,
that we might move through its unfolding
in humble obedience to your will
and in sensitivity to your Spirit
and in joyful expectancy of your coming kingdom.
May the light of that eternal city
illuminate our hearts, our paths, our vision
through these next hours, O Lord.
Amen."
Comments