I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God,
to present your bodies as a living sacrifice,
holy and acceptable to God,
which is your spiritual worship.
Romans 12:1, ESV
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| Painted Lady butterfly |
In the course of a recent Bible study with my mother, we discussed the idea of entrusting ourselves and all we hold dear to the Lord. Below are a few prayers which I have found helpful in my morning-by-morning reconsecration to the Lord. Sometimes I benefit from borrowed words to broaden the scope of my prayers and expose, through the work of the Holy Spirit, dark corners of my heart the Lord needs to cleanse. May the Lord bless them to your benefit as well.
My God,
I offer You this day my thoughts, words, and actions;
My
sufferings and my joys;
My
desires and my disappointments;
My
loved ones, my enemies, and myself,
For
Your glory and all the good intentions of Your divine heart.
(Amy
Carmichael and tinuviel)
“Lord, teach me to treat everything that
comes to me this day with peace of soul and the firm conviction that Your love
rules over all” (Elisabeth Elliot, A Path Through Suffering).
“Lord,
I am willing [to be made willing]
To
receive what You give,
To
release what You take,
To lack
what You withhold,
To do
what You require,
To be
who You desire.”
(AdeleAhlberg Calhoun, Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, “Discernment”)
“Lord, take these things that the enemy
would use to discourage and destroy, and turn them around to my good, to Your
glory, and to the growth of Your people.” (Calhoun, SDH, “Discernment,” marked addition mine)
Abba,
Father, as You wish. (tinuviel)
Your Most Basic Act of Worship
Lord,
I’m Yours. Whatever the cost may be, may Your will be done in my life. I
realize I’m not here on earth to do my own thing, or to seek my own fulfillment
or my own glory. I’m not here to indulge my desires, to increase my
possessions, to impress people, to be popular, to prove I’m somebody important,
or to promote myself. I’m not here even to be relevant or successful by human
standards. I’m here to please you.
I offer
[entrust] myself to You, for You are worthy. All that I am or hope to be, I owe
to You. I’m Yours by creation, and every day I receive from You life and breath
and all things. And I’m Yours because You bought me, and the price You paid was
the precious blood of Christ. You alone, the Triune God, are worthy to be my
Lord and Master. I yield to You, my gracious and glorious heavenly Father; to
the Lord Jesus who loved me and gave Himself for me; to the Holy Spirit and His
gracious influence and empowering.
All
that I am and all that I have [and all that I do, all that and whom I love, all
that I hope,… ALL] I give to You.
I give
You any rebellion in me, that resists doing Your will. I give You my pride and
self-dependence, that tell me I can do Your will in my own power if I try hard
enough. I give You my fears, that tell me I’ll never be able to do Your will in
some areas of life. I consent to let You energize me… to create within me,
moment by moment, both the desire and the power to do Your will.
I give
You my body and each of its members…my entire inner being: my mind, my
emotional life, my will…my loved ones…my marriage or my hopes for marriage…my
abilities and gifts…my strengths and weaknesses…my health…my status (high or
low)…my possessions…my past, my present, and my future…when and how I’ll go
Home.
I’m
here to love You, to obey You, to glorify You. O my Beloved, may I be a joy to
You!
~31 Days of Praise, Ruth Myers [additions by tinuviel]
