A MINUTE OF PRAYER

TURN AWAY FROM THE OLD SELF

• Against Temptation
• Against Pride
• Against Anger
• Against Envy
• Against Lust
• Against Laziness
• Against Gluttony
• Against Worldliness
• Against Criticisms
• Emotional Brokenness

Lord, over and over again
I have fallen into the same temptations.
I am slow to learn Your ways.
I am ashamed to recall my resolves
Never again to do
What I have just come from doing
Never again to stain myself
In the same mudhole.
Let me pick myself up
Forgive me once more and make me clean
Revitalize me into a new will of spirit.
Shock me into a new discipleship.
Give me the gospel of a new second chance
And a new beginning
With a cleansing by faith.
Amen.

Bible Inspiration: Mark 14:38
Keep watch and pray, all of you, so that you may not slip into temptation. The spirit indeed is eager but human nature is weak.

Lord let me not think too highly of myself
Nothing and no one comes before You
Have mercy on this proud heart of mine
Grant me the grace
Never to raise myself above anyone
Only then can I be kind, considerate
And charitable to others
Kill the pride within me
Make me not “I-centered”
But “other-centered”
Rid me of my bloated self-esteem
Impress on me my nothingness
Without You.
Amen.

Bible Inspiration: Proverbs 29:23
A man’s pride results in his humiliation, but he who humbles himself will achieve honors.

Lord, I need You to curb my temper
And bridle my tongue.
Help me to get along with people
Who are difficult, thoughtless and selfish.
Keep me from speaking barbed words
From unkind silences that hurt even more.
Restrain my anger when things go wrong
Believing that You want me to bear this trial
Make me sweet inside
That I may be warm with other people
Gentle in the things I say
Kind in what I do.
Amen.

Bible Inspiration: Matthew 5:22
Everyone who grows angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; any man who uses abusive language toward his brother shall be answerable to the Sanhedrin and if he holds him in contempt he risks the fires of Gehenna.

Lord, do not allow me
To be too firmly attached to this earth
That I should fall in love and crave
For too many things.
Guard me from a jealous eye,
An envious heart.
Save me from the tyranny of possessions-
Mature me in the choices that I make.
Control my desires for earthly satisfactions.
Give me the courage to be content.
Keep me back from wanting.
Hold me back from taking.
Lead me to find a balance
Of moderation and a zest for living.
Amen.

Bible Inspiration: Luke 12:15
Be on your guard and avoid every kind of greed for though you have many possessions your life doesn’t depend on them.

Lord, draw me out
Of the weakness of the flesh.
This foolish, self-favoring self.
Help me to keep keen the edges of my mind
And persevere in thinking straight and true
To keep my passions in control.
Take out of my senses
Any perversion and addiction to lust
Any temptation
That curdles and corrodes my peace.
Open my eyes to the falseness
Of earthly attractions
Help me to refuse my own blind appetites
To open the channels
For the power of self-denial.
Lord, teach me to overcome.
Amen.

Bible Inspiration: Romans 8:6
The tendency of the flesh is toward death but that of the spirit toward life and peace.

Lord, I need to be re-charged.
The visions and dreams
That have propelled me to continue
Have been dimmed and faded to monotony.
The aspirations, vows, and promises
Are now withered and blighted
I have sought the easy way
Drawn back from the road that is hard.
I have been fond of giving myself
To daydreaming
Of what I am going to do sometime
Yet have been so slow in getting started
Lead me to new ideas and new attitudes
And a new spirit.
Amen.

Bible Inspiration: 1 Thessalonians 5:14
We urge you to warn the idle, encourage those who feel discouraged, sustain the weak, have patience with everyone..

Lord, thank You for the bounty of this day
That provided delightful things for the table
Let me look at food
With grace and enjoyment
Without overlooking my health.
Curb my appetite without begrudging me
The reasonable need to fill my basic hunger.
Rein my lack of control
With the knowledge
That the quality of my nourishment
Is more vital than the quantity of my cravings.
Keep me ever mindful of Your blessing
Not of how much more I can eat
But of how thankful I ought to be.
Amen.

Bible Inspiration: Sirach 31:20
Distress and anguish and loss of sleep and restless tossing for the glutton!

Lord, keep me from becoming
Too firmly attached to this earth
That I should fall in love too deeply
With material things.
Make me understand that this journey
Is only a temporary visit
Then can I see all of life in its true perspective.
Let me love those that will endure
Allow nothing on earth
To mean so much to me
That I would sin for them
Purify my desire for earthly things
By using them wisely
According to Your will.
Amen.

Bible Inspiration: Matthew 6:20
Make it your practice instead to store up heavenly treasure which neither moths nor rust corrode, nor thieves break in and steal.

Lord, forgive me for the times
I have criticized other people
In order to inflate my own importance.
Believing everything I hear about others
Judging my fellowmen with prejudice.
I have condemned one often in his absence
Defenseless of himself.
I have exaggerated his faults
When I should have kept silent.
I have forgotten everyone makes mistakes
That one has his own motives or intentions.
Often forgetting that as I judge others
So will You judge me in the end.
Amen.

Bible Inspiration: Ephesians 4:29
Never let evil talk pass your lips; say only the good things men need to hear, things that will really help them.