Morning prayer · 27 July

Leaving all in your hands

A small wooden boat with no oars drifts on calm water, its rope loosely tied to a steady hand reaching down from above the frame, showing a day's course given over rather than steered.

Lord, I don’t know what’s ahead of me today, but you do. I want to leave everything in your hands and put myself at your service. Do for me what you think best. Bless all I do, and give me success, if it’s your will. But if you see that hard things and disappointments are better for me, help me accept them as coming from you. Help me bear them gently and cheerfully, and say, “Father, not my will, but yours be done.” My God, make me happy serving you today. Keep my conscience clear. Let me do, say and want nothing that goes against your will. Give me a thankful spirit, a heart to praise you for all you’ve given me, and all you’ve held back. Amen.

Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.”

James 4:15 (BSB)

Adapted from Ashton Oxenden, via Prayers Ancient and Modern (1897), in plain words. The verse is from the Berean Standard Bible (public domain). Drawing: Mutter.