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O Father, calm the turbulence of our passions;
quiet the throbbing of our hopes;
repress the waywardness of our wills;
direct the wanderings of our affections;
and sanctify the various people among us.
Be our all in all.
Help us to hold all earthly things lightly in our hearts
that we may tend to our growth in grace.
and to the work of blessing
so that we may readily and joyfully
give up whatever you ask from us.
Father, pardon our past ingratitude and disobedience
and purify us, whether by your more gentle or sterner dealings,
until we have done your will on earth
and you remove us to your own presence
with the redeemed in heaven.
Mary Carpenter, 1807 – 1877, English educational and social reformer
The Complete Book of Christian Prayer, freely modified
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As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before.
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