Morning prayer · 28 September

Peace, far and near

A pair of hands gently cups a handful of tiny scattered seeds from the ground, pausing to notice them, while in the distance tiny bent-over figures work a vast unharvested field.

Father, give all of us humble hearts that are sorry for our sins, grace to change our wrong ways, and the holy comfort of your Spirit to overcome and heal everything wrong in us. Speak peace to everyone who is praying with us or for us, far away or near. And please give us hearts to notice the many people around us whose lives are full of misery, to show them pity that really helps, and always to give you what belongs to you, as our Master, Jesus Christ your Son, commanded, and in his name. Amen.

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.

Isaiah 57:15 (BSB)

Adapted from E. W. Benson, via A Chain of Prayer Across the Ages (1913), in plain words. The verse is from the Berean Standard Bible (public domain). Drawing: Mutter.