watchman

Opening Prayer: Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord; O Lord, hear my voice.  Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. 

     If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?  But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared.

     I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.  My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. 

     O Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.  He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins. (Psalm 130:1-8, NIV)

Scripture: Luke 2:21-35

Journal: What does the life of Simeon have to teach you today?  How is God calling you to be more like him?

Reflection: “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.  My soul waits for the Lord, more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.”

I wonder how many times Simeon had prayed the words of this ancient prayer?  I’ll bet he had prayed them often.  I’ll bet they were his constant companion.  After all, he was a watchman who was “waiting for the consolation of Israel.”  For years and years he had been watching and waiting for God to come near—which is what the Greek word for consolation (paraklēsis) literally means.  And that moment had finally arrived.     

On this particular day, his dreams had come true.  His long “shift” standing on the wall as a watchman of Israel was finally over.  You can hear the joy and the delight and the relief in his voice: “Finally, O Lord, you have come.  Finally, my work is done.  My long shift as a watchman has come to an end.  Now allow me to depart this life in peace, for with my own eyes I have seen the Savior, the One who has come to redeem his people.  For with you, O Lord, there is unfailing love, and with you there is full redemption.  You, yourself, have finally come to redeem Israel of all their sins.  All praise be to you!”

Watching and waiting are so important in the spiritual life.  They keep us sharp and alive and attentive, that is if we don’t grow weary and get discouraged.  Luckily, Simeon did not.  He was paying attention.  He faithfully and diligently kept watch; isn’t that what a watchman is supposed to do?  How else would he be able to recognize—out of the thousands of babies he had seen come and go over the course of his lifetime—the Savior when he finally arrived?  And now he was being rewarded for his efforts.  His entire life had been lived for this one moment in time, and when it came he didn’t miss it.

We could learn a lot from Simeon.

Prayer

Closing Prayer: “God, you can now release your servant; release me in peace as you promised. With my own eyes I’ve seen your salvation; it’s now out in the open for everyone to see: A God-revealing light to the non-Jewish nations, and of glory for your people Israel.” (Luke 2:29-32, MSG)

messengers

Opening Prayer: O Lord, you come not to the proud and arrogant and loud, but to the meek and lowly and humble.  Make me into someone who is willing and open and receptive to however, wherever and whenever you choose to come.  Amen.

Scripture: Luke 2:15-20

Journal: How do you need to be more like the shepherds?  What keeps getting in the way of that?

Reflection: If you had an incredibly important message that you needed to share with the world, how would you go about it?  My guess is that you would start with the most credible, powerful, influential, and connected people you could find, right?  Well, that’s not at all what God did.  He did not start with the “influencers” of the world, but with just the opposite.  God chose shepherds: lowly, uneducated, irrelevant shepherds.  God chose the most ordinary, humble, lowly, outcast group he could find.  Which shouldn’t be surprising at all since God seems to always start with the fringe, rather than the core.  I wonder why?

Maybe he chose shepherds because they were the most open and willing and eager ones he could find.  Maybe because they would be the ones most likely to drop everything—including the sheep—at a moment’s notice and leave it all behind, in order hurry off and find the Newborn King.  I mean, Herod would not even leave the palace, right? 

Maybe God chose the shepherds because he knew they would not get in the way of what he was trying to do; they were to ones least likely to try and hijack—manipulate, control, or profit from—what God was up to.  They had no agenda, no need to make an impact, no need to try and spin it or use it for their own gain.

Maybe the reason God chose shepherds was because they were the ones who were the most free: free to receive, free to respond, free to share the news in a way that it was not about them, but about God.  And that’s exactly what they did.  They found their friends and their families and their co-workers—not exactly the who’s who of Bethlehem—and told them exactly what they had seen and heard.  And the people were amazed.  God had entered human history in the most random, unassuming, covert way possible, and these would be the perfect ones to tell the world about it.

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to always remember that this life is about you, not about me.  Help me to keep it that way.

 

today

Opening Prayer: Forgive us, Lord Jesus, when we get so consumed with our own plans or demands or regrets or concerns that we miss you in the here and now.

Scripture: Luke 2:10-12

Journal: What hinders or distracts you most from being able to fully receive the gift that Jesus is offering you today?

Reflection:

today

today in the town of david

a savior has been born to you

there is a gift

in the present moment

if you are willing

and able to receive it

if the grip of

current demands

or past regrets

of future concerns

do not rob you of

the gift of today

today there is

good news

of great joy

for all people

so don’t miss it

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Help us, Lord Jesus, to find you today.

setting the stage

Opening Prayer: O Lord, the excitement is building as the time has finally come for you to enter your world.  The journey is nearing its completion; it has been a long and arduous one.  We are filled with hope, with excitement, and with joyful anticipation.  We are breathlessly expectant of all that is to come—the birth of our Savior.  Come, Lord Jesus!  Amen.

Scripture: Luke 2:1-6

Journal: How is God setting the stage in and around you for his coming? 

Reflection: “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.  (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)  And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem, the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.  He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was great with child.  While they were there the time was fulfilled for the baby to be born.” (Luke 2:1-6)

Random events are almost never random; they often have God’s fingerprints all over them.  I mean, a census?  Really?  But then why else would a man drag his nine-month-pregnant wife, who is great with child, on a four-day, ninety-mile journey when she was about to pop?   

Probably because it wasn’t random at all; the stage was being set for a glorious unfolding.  All of the characters were being set in place for a script that had been written hundreds of years in advance (Isaiah 7:14) and had existed in the heart of God before the foundations of the world.  And now everyone was in place and just awaiting that one little word from the Master Director: “Action!”

How is God setting the stage in and around you, on this Christmas Eve, for his coming?  He is, you know!

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Come, Lord Jesus!  Amen.

 

he comes

Opening Prayer: Get out the message—God Rules!  He put the world on a firm foundation; He treats everyone fair and square.  Let’s hear it from Sky, with Earth joining in, and a huge round of applause from Sea.  Let Wilderness turn cartwheels, animals, come dance, put every tree of the forest in the choir—an extravaganza before God as he comes, as he comes to set everything right on earth, set everything right, treat everyone fair. (Psalm 96:10-13, MSG)

Scripture: Psalm 96:7-13

Journal: What does it do within you to know that not only will God come to redeem, but he will also come to judge?

Reflection: “Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth.  He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth.” (Psalm 96:13)

I don’t know about you, but I often forget during the season of Advent that God comes not only to redeem, but also to judge.  He comes to make everything whole once again, and he also comes to make everything right once again.  And that is actually the thing that causes all creation to rejoice.  The evil and the violence and the hatred and the fear and the oppression and the corruption and the perversion that is so prevalent in our world and our in culture will be done away with once and for all and everything will be just the way he intended it to be.  Now that’s worth trembling over and rejoicing over.  Come, Lord Jesus!

Prayer

Closing Prayer: O Lord, help us to never forget that when you come it will not be just to redeem, but also to judge.  You come into this dark and broken world, not just to make us whole, but to make everything right once again.  Therefore we, like the earth, should all tremble before you.

 

oveshadowed

 (This is from a new devotional series I've been working on called Order My Steps)

Silence: “Hasten unto Him who calls you in the silences of your heart.” ~Thomas R. Kelly

Opening Prayer: Thank you, Lord God, that Mary said yes to being overshadowed.  I pray that I will be brave enough and willing enough to do the same.  Amen.

Read: Luke 1:26-38

Listen: What is God saying to you through his word today?  Write about it in your journal.

Reflect: The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” (Luke 1:35)

What an absolutely beautiful phrase: The power of the Most High will overshadow you!  It is the essence of the spiritual life; Mary shows us that.  The angel comes to her and says that the power of the Most High God will overshadow her, and her response is simply, “I am the Lord’s servant.  Let it be to me as you have said.”  She recognizes that her life is not about her, but about God.  He is the one writing the story, and a far bigger story than she can possibly imagine.  A story in which he is the focal point—his holiness, his character, his love—and she is simply the willing recipient.  We would do well to follow her lead. 

For some reason, we continually try to make it all about us.  We are deeply resistant to the idea of being overshadowed.  And the world in which we live reinforces that resistance.  Our world encourages us to never let anyone or anything overshadow us.  Be heard!  Be seen!  Demand that those around you take notice of you!  Yet the life of the Spirit encourages the direct opposite of this.  Be last.  Be lowest.  Be least.  That is the life Jesus calls us to.  That is the life in which the work of the Spirit is on full display.

Mary was willing to be overshadowed.  The Greek word used here is episkiazō, which means to cast shade upon, or to be enveloped in a haze of brilliance.  It is the same word used to describe what happened at the Transfiguration when the disciples were enveloped by the cloud (Luke 9:34).  Simply put, Mary was willing to disappear into God, to be completely enveloped by him.  She was willing to give up all rights and expectations and demands for herself because, ultimately, she was the Lord’s servant—his desire, his life, and his glory was what really mattered.

What about me?  Am I willing to be overshadowed by the power of the Most High?  Am I willing to live the overshadowed life?  Am I willing to disappear into God, that he may live his life in and through me?  Thanks be to God that Mary was willing to be overshadowed.  I pray that I will be as well.

Respond: How are you drawn to the idea of being overshadowed by the power of the Most High?  How are you resistant to it?  What is God inviting you to?  What is your response to his invitation?

Pray: Ask God for a willingness to be overshadowed, whatever that may mean; not overshadowed by a shadow of darkness, but overshadowed by a shadow of brilliant light.

“Yes, Father!  Yes!  And always Yes!”  ~Francis de Sales

Rest: Rest in the presence of the One who sees you, knows you, and loves you.

 

no room

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, give us the wisdom and the courage and the grace to always make room for you.

Scripture: Luke 2:7

Journal: What are you full of these days?  How does that keep you from making room for Jesus?  How will you make room for him during this season?

Reflection: “Because there was no room for him.”  Is that not one of the saddest lines in all of the Scriptures?  And, unfortunately, not much has changed in the last two thousand years.  We are still too full; and I don’t mean that in a good way.  Mostly, we are full of ourselves.  So full of ourselves, in fact, that there is no room for Jesus. 

Thus, there is a making room that is necessary.  And making room for him does not happen automatically, it must be done intentionally.  Choices must be made.  We cannot say “yes” to everyone and everything. We must say “no” to the things that keep us from being able to say “yes” to him.

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Forgive us, Lord Jesus, when we allow our lives to get so full of our own plans and agendas and pursuits and distractions that we leave no room for you.  Help us to arrange our lives in such a way that busyness and hurry and rushing around are not our default mode of operation.  During this time and this season, teach us how to stop and be silent and make space for you to move and speak and act.  Amen.

shine

Opening Prayer:  Thank you, O Lord, that “even the darkness is not dark to you.”  You are the only one who can turn our darkness into light.  Come, Lord Jesus!

Scripture: John 1:3-5

Journal: How do you long to see the light of Christ come into your darkness?

Reflection: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5, ESV)

I don’t know about you, but oftentimes the darkness within and around me feels pretty dadgum dark.  In fact, at times it is completely overwhelming.  But the beauty of the incarnation is that the Light has come into that darkness.  And no matter how dark the darkness is, or how dark the darkness becomes, it cannot and will not overcome the Light.

So shine, O Light, into our darkness, and give us the life and the love and the hope and the peace that only you can give.

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Shine, O Light, into our darkness, and give us the life and the love and the hope and the peace that only you can give.

ripening

Opening Prayer: O Lord, help us to wait patiently and expectantly for you.  Give us the assurance that as we wait you are up to something very good in us.  You are ripening us and making us ready for the time of your coming. 

Scripture: Mark 13:33

Journal: How will you know when it is time?  How will you wait in the meantime?  What is God doing in and around you in the process?

Reflection: “Be on guard!  Be alert!  You do not know when that time will come.” (Mark 13:33)

What an interesting word choice.  Instead of the word chronos, which refers to time in terms of days or hours or minutes, Mark uses the word kairos, which refers to time in terms of fullness, rightness, or readiness.  Kairos is not a time that can be specifically determined by a clock, but a time that can only be determined by a thing’s ripeness.

Thus, during this season, when we are instructed to wait for the Lord, we are not doing nothing; we are actually doing the most important something that we can do.  We are making time and space for whatever God is doing within or around us to come to fruition.  We are ripening.  We are becoming all that we were intended to be.

So wait, Dear Ones, with patience and confidence, with courage and hope.  For God is at work in and through and around you, producing a harvest that is beautiful and bountiful.

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Help us, O Lord, to wait for you with patience and peace, with courage and with hope.  Help us to rest assured that when the time is ripe and our souls are ready, you will come.  Amen.

 

eager expectation

Opening Prayer: How will we wait for you during this season, O Lord?  It is such a key question.  Search out hearts, this day, so that we can give you an honest answer to that question.  Give us the strength and the courage and the grace to wait for you in eager expectation.  Amen.

Scripture: Romans 8:19

Journal: How are you waiting on the Lord these days?  What are the characteristics of that waiting?  What does that say about what you truly believe about God?

Reflection: “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.” (Romans 8:19)

How will we wait for you during this season, O Lord?  Will we wait in sadness and sorrow?  Will we wait in anxiety and insecurity?  Will we wait in frustration and impatience?  Or will we wait—as you instructed us to—in eager expectation?  For how we wait tells us so much about what we truly believe to be true about you.

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Help us, O Lord, to wait in eager expectation.  Help us to wait, trusting in your goodness and overwhelmed by your love.

servants and stewards

Opening Prayer:  Help us, O Lord, to always live in anticipation of the Master’s return.

Scripture: Matthew 24:42-46

Journal: How would it change the way you go about your daily life if you viewed it all through the lenses of being a servant and steward?

Reflection: “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time?  It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.” (Matthew 24:45-46)

How easy it is in this life to forget the fact that we are not the owners of the “house” in which we live, but merely its servants and stewards.  And, as such, we have been given the responsibility to care for it until the real owner returns.  Once we recognize and acknowledge that fact, it should change the way we see (and do) everything.  Let us, therefore, live in such a way that we take good care of all that has been given to our care.

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Help us to always remember, O Lord, that we are just servants and stewards.  We do not own this “house” we live in; we are merely given the responsibility of caring for it until you return.  Help us to do so diligently, tenderly, and faithfully.  Amen.

 

oil

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us to be wise in our waiting during this season of Advent.  Help us to make sure we have oil for our lamps so that when you come, we will not be caught flat-footed.

Scripture: Matthew 25:6-8

Journal: What does it mean to have oil for your lamp?  How will you wait in such a way during Advent, so that you are ready when the bridegroom arrives?

Reflection: “Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.” (Matthew 25:8)

No one else can live your spiritual life for you.  No one else can read your Scriptures, no one else can offer your prayers, and no one else can engage with God in the silence and stillness of your own heart.  You must do it, or it will not be done. 

Those around you can encourage you to have oil of your own, but, ultimately, whether or not you have any when the time comes is completely up to you.  No one else can give you their oil; you are responsible for that yourself.  So make sure you have enough, even if the bridegroom is a long time in coming.

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Forgive us, Lord Jesus, when we try to rely on others for oil that we ourselves are responsible to possess.  No one else can live our lives with you for us.  Help us to be diligent in making time and space for the movement of your Spirit in and through us.

prepare

Opening Prayer: Help us, Lord Jesus, during this season, to prepare our hearts for your coming.

Scripture: Luke 3:4-6

Journal: How will you prepare your heart for his coming?

Reflection: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” (Luke 3:4)

Prepare is an interesting word.  It usually conjures up images of running around in a million directions, trying to get all of your ducks in a row.  But if you break it down, the word prepare might just mean something different than what we think.  The first part, pre, obviously means beforehand.  And then pare means to remove or reduce by cutting; to diminish or decrease.  So rather than creating a long list of what needs to be done, it’s actually more about reducing things to what is most important.  It involves being focused on the one thing, rather than being distracted by the many things.  It involves living life in a certain way, rather than doing a whole bunch of random things.  It involves living in a state of perpetual preparedness in which the things that we do naturally and organically flow out of what God is doing within us.   

That definitely seems to be the kind of preparedness that’s called for during the season of Advent.  A preparedness that involves cutting more things out, rather than adding more things on.  A preparedness that involves sitting at his feet and listening to what he has to say, instead of running around like a crazy person, trying to get things done.  A preparedness that is about doing less, than about doing more.  A preparedness that is more about subtraction, than it is addition.

Which begs the question: What do I need to cut out in order to be prepared for His coming?

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Show us, O Lord, what we need to remove or cut or cast aside, in order to make room for your coming.

ludicrous

Opening Prayer: O Lord, you don’t typically operate the way we do.  Your imagination is wild and wonderful.  Therefore, help us to look for you in the people and the places and the things—and at the times—we might least expect.  We do not want to miss you!  Come, Lord Jesus!

Scripture: Luke 3:1-3

Journal: How and where and when do you normally expect God to show up?  How will you train your eyes, and your heart, to look for him in the most unexpected people, places, things, and times?

Reflection: Ludicrous: causing laughter because of absurdity; ridiculous; laughable.

It’s impossible to read the story of the nativity without realizing how wonderfully bizarre the whole thing is.  I mean, who in their right mind would do it this way?  The answer?  God would.  Only God would come in such a way that it would leave us laughing in disbelief, just ask Sarah (Gen. 18:12). 

So when God chose to bypass Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Herod, Philip, Lysanias, Anna, and Caiaphas, to send his word to John, son of Zechariah, in the desert (Luke 3:1-3), there’s only one word for it—ludicrous.  God often acts in such a way, it seems, that the only appropriate response is to laugh and shake our heads in awestruck amazement.  God is not like man; he has a wild and wonderful imagination.  He is just as likely to sneak into his world as he is to make a grand entrance.  We just never know how or where or when—or through whom or to whom—he might show up, so we have to pay careful attention.  It certainly keeps us on our toes, if not on the edge of our seats.

So, during this season, we might do well to look for God in the ludicrous.  After all, that seems to be where he shows up more often than not.

Prayer

Closing Prayer: O Lord, help us to look for you in the ludicrous.  For if we do not, we are likely to miss your coming.  Amen.

 

burn

Opening Prayer: O Lord, help me to never neglect or ignore the flame within.  It is your very life within me.  Help me, by your grace, to keep my lamp burning, so that your light illuminates my heart, as well as your world.  Amen.

Scripture: Luke 12:35

Journal:  How will you keep your lamp burning during this season of Advent?

Reflection:

keep your lamp burning

tend and nurture the flame

of the Spirit that dwells

deep within you

it will light the way

for you and for others

don’t ignore it

don’t neglect it

don’t let it wane

don’t let it go out

don’t allow the cares

of this life to extinguish

the light and life within you

pray continually

make space and time

pay careful attention

watch and wait

this is how

we stay ready

for his coming

Prayer

Closing Prayer:

Oh, living flame of love

That tenderly woundest my soul in its deepest centre,

Since thou art no longer oppressive, perfect me now if it be thy will,

Break the web of this sweet encounter.

Oh, sweet burn! Oh, delectable wound!

Oh, soft hand! Oh, delicate touch

That savours of eternal life and pays every debt!

In slaying, thou hast changed death into life.

O lamps of fire! in whose splendours

The deep caverns of feeling,

Once obscure and blind,

Now give forth, so rarely, so exquisitely,

Both warmth and light to their Beloved.

How gently and lovingly you wake in my heart,

Where in secret you dwell alone;

And in your sweet breathing,

Filled with good and glory,

How tenderly You swell my heart with love.

~John of the Cross

thanksgiving day 2021

Opening Prayer: Give us, O Lord, a heart of gratitude, rather than a spirit of entitlement.  Help us to see that all of life is a gift to be received and not a right to be possessed and defended.  Amen.

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Journal: How will you choose gratitude today? 

Reflection: “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

Gratitude is not a feeling, it is a choice.  It is a way of seeing, and then a way of being.  It is a way of looking at life that recognizes that everything is a gift.  It is a way of trusting that even in the most challenging of circumstances there is something to be grateful for.  God is still at work.  That’s why Paul reminds us to “give thanks in all circumstances.”  In fact, that is God’s will for us in Christ Jesus.  God’s will is not for us to complain and ask “why” and get frustrated and angry about the things in this life that we can’t control, it is an invitation to find him and his goodness in the midst of them.

Unfortunately, that is not always easy to do.  Sometimes we let our circumstances get the best of us.  Sometimes we let our circumstances turn us into the worst possible version of ourselves: frustrated, angry, and entitled.  In fact, one of the biggest enemies of gratitude is entitlement.  Entitlement does not see everything as a gift that should be received, but as a right that must be possessed and defended, which, seemingly, makes loving each other an impossibility.

So let’s choose gratitude instead of entitlement.  Let’s make each day an opportunity for joy and thanksgiving, because joy is the fruit of gratitude.  As a wise saint once said, “Gratitude makes the heart great.”  So let’s make each day great.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Prayer

Closing Prayer: “Let joy be your continual feast.  Make your life a prayer.  And in the midst of everything be always giving thanks, for this is God’s perfect plan for you in Christ Jesus.” (TPT)

 

keep watch

Opening Prayer: Teach us, O Lord, to keep watch for your coming.  For you are likely to come in a way that we least suspect.  Amen.

Scripture: Luke 2:8-15

Journal: What does it look like in your life to “keep watch?”  How might God show up in ways that are very different from what you expect?  How will you keep watch for that?

Reflection: My guess is that one of the main reasons the angels came to the lowly shepherds was because they were the ones “keeping watch.” (Luke 2:8-15) It was an art they were well-practiced in; such an integral part of their everyday lives.

Keeping watch is so important in the spiritual life.  Yet, it is not as easy as it seems.  Oftentimes, our expectations of what we will see, or how, where, or when we will see it, get in the way.  We are busy looking for one thing, when God is doing another.  We are expecting him to make a grand entrance, when he is trying to sneak in the back door.  He is often more quiet and hidden and subtle than we give him credit for.

I mean, who in their right mind would expect God to come into his world as a baby?  Yet that’s exactly what he did.  So if we are trying to “keep watch” over these next days or weeks or months, we might do well to look for God to come in the ways we least expect.

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Cultivate in us, O God, a heart of watchfulness.  Help us to never get so involved in the noise and the chaos and the busyness around us that we are unable to recognize you when you come to us.  Come, Lord Jesus!

the fruit of humility

Opening Prayer: Lord, give me the ability to persist through tedium, to survive without the oxygen of recognition, praise, and stroking, and to do some good things every day which are seen only by You. —Sacred Space: the Prayer Book 2010 by Jesuit Communication Centre

Scripture: Proverbs 11:2

Journal: What good things is humility growing in you right now?  How does humility set you free?  From what?

Reflection:

oh humility

do your

good work

in me

set me free

from self

and teach me

how to love

Prayer

Closing Prayer:

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being loved, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being extolled, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being honored, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being praised, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being preferred to others, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being consulted, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being approved, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being humiliated, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being despised, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of suffering rebukes, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being calumniated, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being forgotten, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being ridiculed, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being wronged, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being suspected, Deliver me, Jesus.

That others may be loved more than I,

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be esteemed more than I,

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease,

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be chosen and I set aside,

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be praised and I unnoticed,

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be preferred to me in everything,

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should,

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.    

—Litany of Humility