Wednesday, Week 6

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you
— Matthew 5:44 (BSB)

If Jesus felt that He had to pray, how much more do we need to pray!
— Billy Graham

O God, giver of all good, fountain of all mercy — we thank You for Your grace and for all the manifold tokens of Your thought and care for us. Your faithfulness never fails. Your mercies are new every morning, fresh every moment — more than we can remember. What shall we render unto You, for all Your goodness unto us? We have nothing to give — nothing but the poor love of our hearts; we give that to You. Grant us more and more of the spirit of praise and thanksgiving. Teach us to sing even when tears choke our songs. Give us songs in the night. Teach us how to rejoice, even in care and sorrow.

We praise You for our home and all it means to us. You have given us countless blessings, in the love that unites as a family. Our home is a little of Your love, poured into human hearts. We thank You for the shelter our home is to us, for the gentle affections that bind us so close together. May our home be sweeter to us as the days pass. Make our home life more congenial, more patient, more kindly. May our love be less selfish, and may it have more of the tenderness of Jesus in it.

We ask for special blessings for this day. We shall be exposed to dangers, when we know it not. Protect us from these. We are liable to accidents wherever we go; may You defend us from these, and grant us grace to pass through the moral contagion around us, unhurt by it. Give Your angels charge over us to keep us in all Your ways. Lead us Yourself wherever we go, that we may not stumble. Make us strong for holy service. Let Your protection be over us all the days; and give us strength for every duty. We ask all in Jesus' precious name. Amen.