A pastor recently shared that he begins each day with a reading and meditation on the Wesley Covenant Prayer:
I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.
Do you have a favorite prayer or meditation that helps center you for the day? We’d love to hear about it in the comments section below.
-Katie Huffman
(Image by Flickr user pstreric/via Creative Commons)
John Baillie has an amazing little book called “A Diary of Private Prayer,” which has a short prayer for each morning and evening. It has been a very self-forgetting book for me to start and end my day with!
Thanks for this suggestion, Christine! Here’s a link to more information about A Diary of Private Prayer in case others are interested in checking it out.
I love the Wesleyan Covenant Prayer and I’ve been using it myself. I tried updating the language slightly when I pray it though, since I find the Old English distracting. My edited version is below.
Also, I’m a big fan of “Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals.” They have a couple books and also publish their Daily Office online at http://commonprayer.net/.
Wesleyan Covenant Prayer
I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for you or laid aside for you,
exalted for you or brought low for you.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all thing to your pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
you are mine, and I am yours.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.
A great prayer. I start the day by asking for Him to show me His will for me that day and the power to carry it out.