We thank you, dear God, for the many and various ways in which you guide us through life, taking us by the hand, as a parent would a child, in a difficult and dangerous places … to help us endure the fiery darts of the evil one … to come through such times with faith, hope and love intact.
And we readily admit, O God, that our hearts are resistant to you … that we are insufferably proud in our sin … that we pride ourselves endlessly … that while everyone else surely has issues, and everyone else is at fault, we are likely to absolve ourselves of all wrong and declare ourselves innocent.
In our sin, O LORD, in our pride and our relentless self-interest, we destroy love … we build barriers against one another, we dig chasms that separate … and though our misery be great, we’re likely to blame others and rage against them.
We are not an easy case, O God … the hardness of our heart is stunning; the resistance of our spirit to the things of Christ is amazing … that we should trapped within ourselves, prisoners of pride and prejudice …
Deal with us, LORD, that we might be your people, faithful and true to the things of Christ … conquer our hearts, O God, for we do not willingly surrender to you … overwhelm our sensibilities, until we have the sense of faithfulness … ravish our souls with the harsh winds of your Holy Spirit, dismantle the little castles we’ve built, bring down our foolish fortifications … that we might receive the King of kings and the LORD of lords … and be made anew in the image of Jesus the Christ.
Create within us, O God, a sensitive heart … a heart ready to learn and eager to grow … a heart pliable in your hands …
We are yours, O God, by virtue of our baptism, and we thank you for that … but we would be more, O God … we would be yours with a surrendered heart, a life given in faith, for the work of Christ our LORD …
Deliver us, we pray, from the false gospels of power and wealth … the misleading philosophies and psychologies of the day, anything that drives us deeper into ourselves, and further from your grace.
Help us, LORD, to take up our cross and learn from Jesus – to bear the burdens of life with dignity and love, knowing full-well that you are at work in all things for good, conforming us to the image of your son Jesus, that when we leave this life and stand before you, we will bring our good works formed in Christ – a harvest of righteousness, the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Deal with us, O LORD, as you must – bring us into conformity with Christ … melt our hearts and restore our souls … that we might love you all the more – and love our neighbor as ourselves … for to you we belong in the days of our lives, and when life here is no more, we will gladly go to you, our Creator and our King.
In the name of our LORD Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray, saying, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name …
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