Prayer Tip: With Malice Towards None, and Charity for All
Daily Scripture
Ephesians 4:1-3, 31-32 (CEB), James 1:19 (CEB) and Matthew 7:1-5 (NRSV)
Ephesians 4:1-3, 31-32 (CEB)
Therefore, as a prisoner for the Lord, I encourage you to live as people worthy of the call you received from God. Conduct yourselves with all humility, gentleness, and patience. Accept each other with love, and make an effort to preserve the unity of the Spirit with the peace that ties you together…Put aside all bitterness, losing your temper, anger, shouting, and slander, along with every other evil. Be kind, compassionate, and forgiving to each other, in the same way God forgave you in Christ.
James 1:19 (CEB)
Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to grow angry.
Matthew 7:1-5 (NRSV)
“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.”
Prayer Tip
by Jess Lovell, Pastoral Intern at Resurrection Overland Park. She is also pursuing an M.Div. at Saint Paul School of Theology. She is a Certified Candidate for Ministry in the Great Plains Conference and often provides pulpit supply to churches in the conference. Jessica lives in Lenexa and has 3 children: Sydney, Sierra and Aiden.
When I was a young girl, my parents would often take us to visit our grandparents. I always noticed the praying hands that were displayed, as well as the Serenity prayer. As a child, I often looked at it and read it. I knew by its words that it was a powerful prayer, but I did not fully comprehend its meaning until much later.
The Serenity prayer reminds me of my grandparents and how they drew their strength from the Lord, and it’s an excellent reminder of the wisdom and courage we need to practice daily in living the life of being a follower of Jesus.
It was originally written by theologian Reinhold Niebuhr. The prayer is a call on our lives. It’s a call to be reminded of the grace our Lord and Savior provide us, a call to live each moment a day at a time, and an encouragement to trust the Lord.
May it be ever so.
God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.
Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen.
