Pruning Shears By Joe Wise (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons
There are some things in us we pray should die.
Kill off in us, we ask, the immoral, the indecent, and the lie,
remove from us the lust, the evil, and the greed,
the anger, the hate, and the obscenity for which we have no need.
From this death let new life begin: fresh shoots of humility,
tolerance, kindness, gentleness, love and unity.
Graham Cook, minister of the United Reformed Church, UK
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I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit,
while every branch that does bear fruit
he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
prayer & verse 
