White Monastery, Egypt, by Roland Unger [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons
O God, watch over me always,
in my work, in my words, in the thoughts of my heart.
O God, have pity on me,
in this world and in the world to come.
O God, have pity on me,
for I have sinned against you like the mortal that I am;
but, kind and gentle Master, forgive me.
O God, may I not be afraid or disturbed
when the time comes for my soul to leave my body.
O God, do not be angry then and rebuke me,
do not give vent to wrath and punish me.
O God, do not show me the anger
that my sins and misdeeds deserve.
O God, do not hide your face from me when I come before you,
do not turn away from me
when you pronounce your sentence on our lives –
the lives we have lived openly
and the lives that have been ours in secret.
O God, your Word was made flesh for me;
for me he was crucified, died, was buried
and on the third day rose again.
Bind me to you, and let no evil spirit lord over me
and snatch me out of your hands.
O God, do not let me give way to disloyalty.
May the Enemy find nothing in me that he can call his own.
O God, sharpen my will.
May it be like a sword and cut all sinful thoughts out of my mind.
O God, as you calmed the sea with a word,
so drive out the evil passions from my sinful nature.
May sin die down and disappear from all my members.
O God, grant that my heart may always be pure
and my faith orthodox forever, yes forever. Amen.
Shenute, c.347- c.465, abbot of the White Monastery in Egypt
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And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Amen!
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This prayer reminds me of a discipline Dallas Willard practiced of routinely committing every part of his body, mind and heart to God.
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