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Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.

Prayer for Purity of Worship

Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires are known, and from whom no secrets are hidden: Cleanse the thoughts of my heart by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that I may perfectly love you and worthily praise your holy name. Through Christ I pray,

Confession

Have mercy on me, Oh Lord, for I am a humble and miserable sinner. [At this point, pause to remember specific sins you have committed during the week and speak or think them.] I renounce all of these sins, heavenly Father, and repent of them, and I promise to make every effort not to repeat them.

Have mercy on me, pardon me for these offences and any I might have omitted from forgetfulness or ignorance; in the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, I pray for forgiveness. And I pray that your Holy Spirit may dwell with me today and throughout the coming week, to comfort me, to give me strength against temptation, and to guide me into the path of righteousness.

Prayer of St. Richard of Chichester (1230 A.D.)

Thanks be to thee, my Lord Jesus Christ,
For all the benefits thou hast won for me,
For all the pains and insults thou hast borne for me.

O most merciful Redeemer, Friend, and Brother,
May I know thee more clearly,
Love thee more dearly,
And follow thee more nearly
For ever and ever.

Benediction

Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, I pray that you direct my way unto you, and make me and all of us to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you; to the end that we may establish our hearts unblameable in holiness before you, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.

Think of the day ahead in terms of God with you, and visualize health, strength, guidance, purity, calm confidence, and victory as the gifts of His presence.

Psalm 25:1-10 (ESV)

Matthew 5:27-28 (ESV)

Sermon on the Mount - Lust in Your Heart

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ”

Notes on the Scripture

As we discussed on Friday, this section of Matthew is informed by Jesus' frightening statement, “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” He actually has not abolished the law of Moses; He is making it tougher. So tough, in fact, that people will eventually realize that compliance with it is impossible.

The specific illustration of feeding sexual lust by intentionally looking at another person hits a stronger chord with men than women, simply because of human biology. But women can draw their own analogies; and also, it applies to men in situations other than sexual lust. Who has not gone out of their way to tease themselves with temptation? We do it on purpose; we feed our own desire to sin.

Where we purposefully form a sinful desire, even if we restrain ourselves, a sin is committed. Emphasis on inner sinfulness and the necessity of reforming our hearts, rather than simply our actions (as the scribes and Pharisees did), is the key to Christ's early teachings.

One important problem in interpreting these verses is solved by the excellent English Standard Version's translation, “who looks at a woman with lustful intent.” Less accurate translations, with more ambiguous phrasing such as “lust in our hearts”, can be misleading. To sin, we must do something on purpose. We do not sin by an inadvertent stimulation of desire.

So a man who buys a Playboy magazine, or goes to a strip club, or goes to a pool hoping to ogle women in their bikinis, transgresses Christ's teaching. But simply seeing an attractive person and feeling an automatic pang of sexual longing does not. The difference is between seeing and looking. God gave us our sex drive, just as He gave us our hunger for food and our desire to clothe ourselves. If we are overweight and trying to diet, we shouldn't go to a bakery to smell the cupcakes!

The Amish are astute at refusing to tempt themselves.

Daily Inspiration

“Total Commitment”

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