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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.

For a Christian Life

O  Christ, you came so that we might have life, and have it more abundantly,
grant me, throughout this day, power in my love,
strength in my humility,
purity in my zeal,
kindness in my laughter,
and your peace in my heart at all times.

J. L. Cowie

A Prayer of Abandonment to the Holy Spirit:

Holy Spirit, God of Love, be present to me; accept the offering of myself which I make to you. Receive these hands, these feet, these eyes, this tongue, and all my senses. Receive my memory, my will, my understanding, my desires, my sighs, the longings and the aspirations of my soul. Receive my every hour, my every moment, and all the happenings of my life. Holy Spirit, God of Love, knit my soul to you. Let your love possess my whole being - my senses, my powers, my affections, my very life. Let your love rule my labor and my rest, my going and my staying, and move me as it pleases. Let your love disquiet or comfort me, humble or exalt me, and burn away all my faults.

Holy Spirit, God of Love, draw me to yourself. Do with me what you will. Nothing will cause me fear if only your love enfolds me. I ask confidently because your desire to give is greater than mine to receive. Transform me into yourself, so that I may no longer know myself, nor find myself, except in you.

~ Thomas of Jesus

Doxology

And now let me go forth praising you, O Lord, with all my heart, telling of all your wonders, with my words and in my actions. I will be glad and rejoice in you this day. I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

Psalm 9:1-2

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.

Proverbs 16:8 (NKJV)

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (ESV)

The Lord’s Supper [2]

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Notes on the Scripture

aving chewed out the members of the Corinthian church in the preceding verses for their selfish, headstrong, and self-indulgent behavior when celebrating the Lord’s Supper, Paul now adds a carrot to the stick. He reminds the Corinthians of the beautiful moment that they are celebrating.

The passage will be very familiar to some people even if they did not know where it came from, for it is so profound and eloquent that it has been copied into a number of communion services. Christ Himself told us to remember Him when we break our bread for supper and drink our wine, which hold true when we have pizza and Coke or burgers and beer. Most Christians will say some sort of remembrance before meals, although we do not always recall the crucifixion. Usually, at meals we give thanks and reserve the remembrance for a collective, symbolic meal of bread and wine or grape juice. (If you want to sample a wide variety of blessings, we have a large collection on the Prayer Before Meals page.)

This moment is central to worship in more liturgical churches, and many believe in transubstantiation, that is, that the bread and wine become the actual body and blood of Christ during the liturgy. But it is so critical that even very non-sacramental denominations will celebrate it. Baptists and some others, for example, call it an “ordinance of Christ.” But the theology hardly matters; for the Bible is silent on the subject, and theology is the product of the human mind. The most important point is that we do it, as Christ asked us to do.

So Paul stops chiding the Corinthians and sets them back on the course toward Christ, by eloquently reminding them of the holy mystery of the occasion they celebrate.

Crucified With Christ (Galatians 2:20), by Rev. Earl Jackson, contemporary.

Daily Inspiration

“ Do I Really Have To? ”

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