knowing

open my hand

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
photo by Oladimeji Odunsi on Unsplash
 
 
You have called me to open my hand
    so that you can fill it.
 
But I would not open my hand.
I held the world tightly 
    and kept my hand shut.
I would not let it go.
 
But please God,
    open my hand for me.
And do not only open my hand, 
    but also open my mouth –
  and not only my mouth,
    but my heart also.
 
Grant that I may know nothing but you,
    that I may count everything as loss compared to you,
    and that I may strive to be conformed to you.
 
Jeremy Taylor, 1613-1667, English cleric, imprisoned during the Protectorate
 
__________________________
 
 
I am the Lord your God,
    who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
    Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

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Grace to interpret the Scriptures

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
 
We implore you, Father of the only-begotten, 
    Lord of the universe,
        the one who has crafted all creatures,
        the maker of things that have been made.
 
We stretch out clean hands, 
    and we unfold our thoughts to you, Lord.
Have compassion, spare, benefit, improve and multiply us 
    in virtue, faith and knowledge.
 
Visit us, O Lord.
We display our own weaknesses to you.
Have mercy and pity on us all.
Lift up this people, and make us gentle and sober-minded.
Cleanse us and set us apart to worship you rightly.
 
Send your Holy Spirit into our minds
    and give us grace to learn the Scriptures
    and to properly interpret their meaning,
        that others may be encouraged 
  through your only-begotten Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit,
    through whom and to you be glory and strength
    both now and to all the ages of the ages, Amen.
 
Serapion Scholasticus, 300-360, Egyptian Monk and Bishop
 
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But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 
To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

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prayer to the Holy Spirit

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

image, Serbian Monastery, BrankaVV, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

 
 
Good spirit, Holy giver of life . . .  
We are born again in You, created a second time. 
In You is all knowledge, which illuminates our minds 
    so that we might see the Lord, our Savior. 
In Him is life, wisdom, beyond words, 
    knowledge that surpasses the senses, 
    brightness beyond understanding – all life, all power, all glory – 
for He is the God who carries our burdens and forgives us. 
 
Make me entirely Yours. 
Give me life according to Your will. 
Resurrect those parts of me that sin has brought down. 
Enlighten my heart, which is darkened by evil desires, 
   and bring life to my soul, which is dead in its sin. 
Unfurl the threefold mantle of my passions. 
    Have mercy on me in my poverty. 
    Deliver me from every enemy who, from without or within, rises up over me. 
    Deliver me from every evil thing. 
Forgive my reprehensible deeds, and plant your perfect love inside of me.
 
Write your servant’s name in the Book of Life, 
    and give me a good end so that, as I rise victorious over the devil, 
    I might bow confidently before Your kingly throne. 
Make my heart good soil, Lord, and sow it with good seeds. 
Cover me with Your grace like the morning dew, and harvest that which is good: 
    humble prayer, restraint, watchfulness, and tears. 
 
John the Deacon, 15th Century, Orthodox
 
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When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, 
    for he will not speak on his own authority, 
    but whatever he hears he will speak, 
    and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 
He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

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believing to understand

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
 
 
Lord Jesus Christ; Let me seek you by desiring you,
    and let me desire you by seeking you;
    let me find you by loving you,
    and love you in finding you.

I confess, Lord, with thanksgiving,
    that you have made me in your image,
    so that I can remember you, think of you, and love you.

But that image is so worn and blotted out by faults,
    and darkened by the smoke of sin,
    that it cannot do that for which it was made,
    unless you renew and refashion it.

Lord, I am not trying to make my way to your height,
    for my understanding is in no way equal to that,
    but I do desire to understand a little of your truth
    which my heart already believes and loves.

I do not seek to understand so that I can believe,
    but I believe so that I may understand;
    and what is more,
    I believe that unless I do believe, I shall not understand.

 
Anselm of Canterbury, c. 1033-1109, Benedictine monk and archbishop
 
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Oh how I love your law!
    It is my meditation all the day.
Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
    for it is ever with me.
I have more understanding than all my teachers,
    for your testimonies are my meditation.
I understand more than the aged,
    for I keep your precepts.
I hold back my feet from every evil way,
    in order to keep your word.
I do not turn aside from your rules,
    for you have taught me.
How sweet are your words to my taste,
    sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Through your precepts I get understanding;
    therefore I hate every false way.
 
 

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a prayer of love

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
photo by didin emelu on Unsplash
 
Gracious Lord,
Your name is love,
    in love receive my prayer.
My sins are more than the wide sea’s sand,
    but where sin abounds, there is grace more abundant.
Look to the cross of the your beloved Son,
    and view the preciousness of his atoning blood;
Listen to his never-failing intercession,
    and whisper to my heart, ‘Your sins are forgiven,
        be of good cheer, lie down in peace.’
Grace cataracts from heaven and flows for ever,
    and mercy never wearies in bestowing benefits.
Grant me more and more to prize the privilege of prayer,
        to come to you as a sin-soiled sinner,
        to find pardon in you,
        to converse with you;
        to know you in prayer as
            the path in which my feet tread,
            the latch upon the door of my lips,
            the light that shines through my eyes,
            the music of my ears,
            the marrow of my understanding,
            the strength of my will,
            the power of my affection,
            the sweetness of my memory.
May the matter of my prayer be always wise, humble, submissive,
    obedient, scriptural, Christ-like.
Give me unwavering faith that supplications are never in vain,
    that if I seem not to obtain my petitions
        I shall have larger, richer answers,
            surpassing all that I ask or think.
Unsought, you have given me the greatest gift,
    the person of your Son,
    and in him you will give me all I need.
 
The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions
slightly updated
 
________________________________________
 
 
God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. 
But as people sinned more and more, 
    God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. 
So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, 
    now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, 
    giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life 
    through Jesus Christ our Lord.
 

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May Your Spirit …

/ Eric Mathews / 1 Comment
image
 
May your Spirit guide my mind,
Which is so often dull and empty.
Let my thoughts always be on you,
And let me see you in all things.
 
May your Spirit quicken my soul,
Which is so often listless and lethargic.
Let my soul be awake to your presence,
And let me know you in all things.
 
May your Spirit melt my heart,
Which is so often cold and indifferent.
Let my heart be warmed by your love,
And let me feel you in all things.
 
Johann Freylinghausen, 1670-1739, German pietist and hymnist
 
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how much more will the blood of Christ, 
who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God,
purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

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wise as serpents, innocent as doves

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
dove surrounded by snake, Lichfield Cathedral, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
 
Dear Lord, you have sent me into this world to preach your word.
So often the problems of this world seem so complex and intricate
    that your word strikes me as embarrassingly simple.
Many times I feel tongue-tied in the company of people
    who are dealing with the world’s social and economic problems.
But you, O Lord, said, “Be clever as serpents and innocent as doves.”
Let me retain innocence and simplicity in the midst of this complex world.
I realize that I have to be informed,
     that I have to study the many aspects of the problems facing the world,
     and that I have to try to understand as well as possible 
     the dynamics of our contemporary society.
But what really counts in that all this information, knowledge, and insight
    allows me to speak more clearly and unambiguously 
    your truthful word.
Do not allow evil powers to seduce me with the complexities of the world’s problems,
    but give me the strength to think clearly, speak freely, and act boldly in your service.
Give me the courage to show the dove in a world so full of serpents.
 
Henri J.M. Nouwen, 1932 – 1996, Dutch-born Catholic priest and author 
 
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Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, 
    so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 
Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, 
    and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, 
    to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. 
When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, 
    for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. 
For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

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to ascend with Jesus

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
L’Ascension / Gustave Doré 
 
Lord, why should I doubt any more,
    when you have given me such assured pledges of your love?
First, you are my Creator, I am your creature,
   you are my Master, I your servant.
But hence arises not my comfort: you are my Father, I am your child.
   “You shall be my sons and daughters,” says the Lord Almighty.
Christ is my brother:
    “I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God,
     but, lest this should not be enough,
     your maker is your husband.”
Nay, more, I am a member of his body, he my head.
Such privileges – had not the Word of truth made them known,
   who or where is the man that dared 
   in his heart have presumed to have thought it!
So wonderful are these thoughts 
    that my spirit fails in me that their consideration, 
    and I am confounded to think that God,
    who has done so much for me,
    should have so little from me.
But this is my comfort, that when I come to heaven,
    I shall understand perfectly what he has done for me,
    and that I shall be able to praise him as I ought.
Lord, having this hope, let me purify myself as you are pure,
    and let me be no more afraid of death,
    but even desire to be dissolved and be with you,
    which is best of all.
 
Anne Bradstreet, c. 1612-1672, New England poet and Puritan
 
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For now we see in a mirror dimly,    
    but then face to face. 
Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, 
    even as I have been fully known.

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prayer for teachers and students

/ Eric Mathews / 1 Comment
image / flickr / CC BY-NC 2.0
 
Grant, O Lord, to all teachers and students,
    to know what is worth knowing,
    to love what is worth loving,
    to praise what pleases you most,
    and to dislike whatsoever is evil in your sight.
Grant us with judgment to distinguish things that differ,
and above all to search out and do what is well-pleasing to you,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
 
Thomas à Kempis, 1379-1471, German monk
 
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The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life,
    turning a person from the snares of death.
Good judgment wins favor,
    but the way of the unfaithful leads to their destruction.

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Pentecost prayer

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Pentecost mosaic / Pete Unseth, CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
 
Holy Spirit, almighty God,
  proceeding from the Father and the Son;
Jesus the eternal Son, our Redeemer,
  has promised that you will kindle in us the true knowledge and love of God.
Stir up in our hearts, we pray true fear, true faith,
  that we may acknowledge the mercy
  which the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ hast promised
  unto us for his sake.
Be our comforter in all difficulties and dangers,
  and kindle divine love in our hearts,
  so that by true obedience,
  we may offer perpetual praise to you
  and to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
  and to his blessed Son, our Saviour and Redeemer.
Amen.

Philipp Melanchthon, 1497 – 1560, German reformer with Martin Luther
 
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But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, 
    will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
 

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