Here are three morning prayers I use in my daily devotions. The first is a brief prayer I have said daily when I awake for the past fifteen years or so, a three-part petition for personal expression of the Lord Jesus in my life which I adapted from a sermon by Charles Stanley, the American Baptist pastor of the First Baptist of Atlanta and founder of In Touch ministries, his television teaching and book ministry. The second prayer is from William Barclay, the British theologian and Bible scholar who wrote insightful and useful commentaries on the New Testament books. The third prayer was is an Episcopal prayer given to me by my friend, Rev. Phil Rountree, an Episcopal priest in Novato, California.
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Father God, thank you for another day. “Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me.” and make me an extension of the life of Jesus, an expression of His love, and an exhibition of His power, in all that I do. In Jesus name, Amen.
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TO REFLECT THE MASTER
O God, help me all through today to do
nothing to worry those who love me,
to do nothing to let down those who
trust me, to do nothing to fail those who
employ me, to do nothing to fail those
who are close to me.
Help me all through this day to do
nothing which would be a cause of
temptation to someone else or which
would make it easier for someone else to
go wrong; not to discourage anyone who
is doing his best; not to dampen anyone’s
enthusiasm or to increase anyone’s doubts.
Let me all through this day be a comfort
to the sad, be a friend to the lonely, be
an encouragement to the dispirited,
be a help to those who are up against
it. So grant that others may see in me
something of the reflection of the Master
whose I am and whom I seek to serve.
Amen
William Barclay
Three posts discussing different prayers of William Barclay:
A Prayer for the Church Invisible
Ash Wednesday Prayer for Christopher Hitchens
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A MORNING RESOLVE
I will try this day to live a simple, sincere, and serene life, repelling promptly every thought of discontent, anxiety, discouragement, impurity, and self-seeking; cultivating cheerfulness, magnanimity, charity, and the habit of holy silence; exercising economy in expenditure, generosity in giving, carefulness in conversation, diligence in appointed service, fidelity to every trust, and a childlike faith in God.
In particular I will try to be faithful in those habits of prayer, work, study, physical exercise, eating, and sleep which I believe the Holy Spirit has shown me to be right.
And as I cannot in my own strength do this, nor even with a hope of success attempt it, I look to thee, O Lord God my Father, in Jesus my Savior, and ask for the gift of the Holy Spirit.
