You have brought me, gracious God, through the year. Accept my deep and loving thanks. I trust you for what you have withheld as I bless you for what you have given. May goodness and mercy bring me to the many mansions you have prepared, and may you be near me until the end.
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O Head of the church, I would intercede on behalf of all who are ministers of your holy gospel. Enrich them with knowledge and articulation. As they break the living Bread, may they be nourished. As the river flows through them to others, may it keep their hearts fresh and fruitful. Keep me, O gracious Master, from the corruption and lust of the world. May my speech be always full of grace, seasoned with salt. May my behavior always become the gospel of Christ. May there be nothing in my loneliest moments to put you to shame. Holy Spirit, make me merciful in my judgment of others. May I think no evil. Deliver me from the spirit of retaliation. Help me to speak and think of others as I would have them speak and think of myself. Make me pure in heart; not only in my outward walk, but also in my inward temper. Blessed Lord, may I be strong, not for myself alone, but for others. Teach me to bear the frailties of the weak, to surround those that are overwhelmed in the fight of life, and to lighten the load of care beneath which many of my fellow believers are pressed. O Savior, I commend to you those whom I have injured, or spoken against, or failed to help. I pray for those who have treated me wrongfully and despitefully. I intercede for my dear ones, for all sufferers and mourners, and for your saints everywhere. O you who sent your Son, may the purity, simplicity, and beauty of the Holy Child, Jesus, be poured out like a sweet fragrance through our hearts and lives. Bless those absent and those we love, the strangers and the lonely; and may we all meet in the great homecoming. Bring the coming of your kingdom, and to this end help every true worker for you, the world over. May the kingdoms of this world speedily become the kingdoms of our God, and of his Christ. Help me to speed the coming of that day. Most blessed Lord, may all uncleanness and filthiness, foolish talking, covetousness, bitterness, malice, and anger be put away from me. May I forgive, even as God in Christ has forgiven me. Great God! Teach me the art of so living in fellowship with you that every act may be a psalm, every meal a sacrament, every room a sanctuary, and every thought a prayer. May the bells that ring to common duty be inscribed with “Holiness to the Lord.” |
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