Monday, March 19, 2007
An Instrument of your peace
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
Lord, I know it's not my peace, for my peace is merely human, the absence of conflict. Your peace comes, unexpected, and unbidden, dropped like loving pearl drops of dew onto the hot and conflicted surface of my heart, the most precious of gifts, bringing new life whenever it touches me. Teach me, indeed to be a carrier of this peace, sharing it wherever I go.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Lord, I know it is my nature to desire an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or even worse, a head for an eye, a jaw for a tooth, but you have shown us, this is not the way. Help me, use me, whenever possible, to break those horrid and heavy chains of hate which bind us, the road of darkness which carries us on to more hurt and hate, by being a carrier of your love, even though it is so hard. Remind me of your forgiveness, even on the cross, when I long to strike out.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Thank you, Lord, for showing us the path out of hate after hate, hurt after hurt. By forgiving our brother, we can come before you, free from the endless cycle of hurt, and in doing this, we follow ever more closely in your footsteps, and become vessels of your light. Remind me, Lord, when I want to wallow in the dark pleasure of my injury, my hurt feelings, my harm, that I can be free from that by choosing to pardon, as you chose to pardon those who were there to take your life.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Doubt can be such a dark burden. Help me Lord, by my actions, my prayers, my choices, to show that there is more to the world than meets the eye, that loving and following you, even through the hard times is a joy and a blessing, and that even when I cannot see the way out, and am in the middle of the valley of the shadow of death, Lord, may what I do by word and deed, demonstrate that that certainty that You are with me.
Where there is despair, hope.
You are my hope, Lord. Help me share that hope each step of the way, in small ways or large, because the gift is so wonderful, I cannot keep it secret to myself. Show me how to see with your eyes those who need that hope, and open the ways for me to share it.
Where there is darkness, light.
You are the light of the world, Lord. Make me a lantern carrying that light wherever I go. As I walk with you, may this poor and dingy lantern become a clear crystal showing that light, not mine, but yours, which chases away all shadow.
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Lord, giver of all good gifts, your love is the true joy worth having. Let me be your vessel, a cup to share that joy, for you are our Bridegroom, whose living waters are the only wine that lasts, the only joy that sustains. As your vessel, use me to spread that to all whose lives I touch, instead of the bitter cup of me and mine.
O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.
Lord, I know it's not my peace, for my peace is merely human, the absence of conflict. Your peace comes, unexpected, and unbidden, dropped like loving pearl drops of dew onto the hot and conflicted surface of my heart, the most precious of gifts, bringing new life whenever it touches me. Teach me, indeed to be a carrier of this peace, sharing it wherever I go.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Lord, I know it is my nature to desire an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or even worse, a head for an eye, a jaw for a tooth, but you have shown us, this is not the way. Help me, use me, whenever possible, to break those horrid and heavy chains of hate which bind us, the road of darkness which carries us on to more hurt and hate, by being a carrier of your love, even though it is so hard. Remind me of your forgiveness, even on the cross, when I long to strike out.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Thank you, Lord, for showing us the path out of hate after hate, hurt after hurt. By forgiving our brother, we can come before you, free from the endless cycle of hurt, and in doing this, we follow ever more closely in your footsteps, and become vessels of your light. Remind me, Lord, when I want to wallow in the dark pleasure of my injury, my hurt feelings, my harm, that I can be free from that by choosing to pardon, as you chose to pardon those who were there to take your life.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Doubt can be such a dark burden. Help me Lord, by my actions, my prayers, my choices, to show that there is more to the world than meets the eye, that loving and following you, even through the hard times is a joy and a blessing, and that even when I cannot see the way out, and am in the middle of the valley of the shadow of death, Lord, may what I do by word and deed, demonstrate that that certainty that You are with me.
Where there is despair, hope.
You are my hope, Lord. Help me share that hope each step of the way, in small ways or large, because the gift is so wonderful, I cannot keep it secret to myself. Show me how to see with your eyes those who need that hope, and open the ways for me to share it.
Where there is darkness, light.
You are the light of the world, Lord. Make me a lantern carrying that light wherever I go. As I walk with you, may this poor and dingy lantern become a clear crystal showing that light, not mine, but yours, which chases away all shadow.
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Lord, giver of all good gifts, your love is the true joy worth having. Let me be your vessel, a cup to share that joy, for you are our Bridegroom, whose living waters are the only wine that lasts, the only joy that sustains. As your vessel, use me to spread that to all whose lives I touch, instead of the bitter cup of me and mine.
O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.
Labels: discipleship, Following Jesus
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