Balm of Gilead by Deror_avi via wikimedia commons https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
Almighty God, our heavenly Father,
we come unto You rejoicing in Your might and upheld by Your love.
That God Himself should stoop to our weakness
and surround us with His concern
is a miracle too marvelous for us to grasp.
Yet in our own lives we have found this saving experience.
We are grateful that we see You in power and experience You in love.
We find ourselves in desperate need of renewal,
and we turn to You as the source of all life.
Do Thou refresh our spirits and renew our minds!
Help us to come to You fresh every morning
with expectant hearts and confident spirits.
Give us grace to ask of You not doubtfully, but with the assurance of faith.
Our sickness is beyond the help of human healers.
But You are the Great Physician of the soul.
Cleanse us of the poisons of our hatreds,
our resentments,
and our fears.
Touch us with the Balm of Gilead for sin-sick lives.
And grant, O Lord, that we may know You are never far from us
and are ever willing to heal us if we will but ask.
For victory over our spiritual sins and sickness, we give You thanks,
in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Gerald Kennedy, 1907-1980, American Methodist bishop, pastor and author
The Westminster Collection of Christian Prayers, slightly modified
___________________
Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.
prayer & verse 
