Part VI - Prayers For Christian Unity And Social Service

A Prayer for Service Teach us, good Lord, to serve thee as thou deservest; to give and not to count the cost; to fight and not to heed the wounds; to toil and not to seek for rest; to labor and not to ask for any reward, save that of knowing that we do thy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Loyola For Courage Valiant Lord, who in our very nature didst fight to win, and labor to achieve; Clothe us with thy valour, that we of thy household, being delivered from the fear of living as Christians, may unite, as comrades in service, to attack the problems of our troubled day with serene mind and victorious will, till our last foe is vanquished and our last task finished; to thy honor and glory, who livest and reignest, God, for evermore. Amen. Bishop Brent For the Glory of Servanthood O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of man, who came not to be ministered unto but to minister; Give us grace, we humbly beseech thee, to lay aside the garments of our vanity; and so gird us with thy power, and crown us with thy humility, that finally, in the glory of servanthood we may stand beside thy throne, where with the Father and the Holy Spirit thou reignest, one God, world without end. Amen. J. W. Suter, Jr. A Prayer of Dedication O God, our Father, we dedicate ourselves anew to thee and thy service. Put into the heart of each one of us such a love for thee that we may truly love our neighbors as ourselves – a love that leaps the boundaries of race or color or creed or kind, that knows no distinction of class, that reaches out a saving hand even unto the least of these our brethren. Fill our lives with the single motive of service, and use us, Lord, use us for thine own purposes just as thou wilt, and when and where; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Bishop Scarlett For Insight Jesus, our Master and our Friend, who claimest our service through the needs of our neighbors; Grant us so to see thy image in all our fellow-creatures that in serving mankind we may minister to thee, the living Saviour of the world. Amen. H. S. Nash For Unity O Lord and Father of all mankind, unite the hearts of thy children of whatever race or creed, of whatever land or clime, in one great fellowship of the spirit. Let no unworthy thing separate us from one another or from thee. May we have unity of life, of hope, of faith and of service, that thy divine Kingdom may come to this troubled world, through Christ our Saviour. Amen. For Everyday Tasks O God, whose splendor fills the world, yet who revealest thyself in the song of a bird, in the face of a flower, in a cup of cold water given to a brother man; Mercifully grant that all our purest visions may ever tend to the plainest duty, and our holiest aspirations touch and transfigure the tasks of every day; that we may serve thy holy will, not fitfully, but in constancy and joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Joseph Fort Newton A Prayer for Good Cheer O God, Master of men, help us, as long as we live, to live nobly, to thy praise and to the good cheer of our fellow men; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. H. S. Nash For the Healing of Social Disorders O Lord Jesus Christ, who hast exalted our human nature by making it the tabernacle and instrument of the Godhead, that all mankind may become one in thee; Heal the schisms and differences that separate man from man and rend the human family. Give honor and sympathy to the prosperous; forbearance and courage to the poor. And so drive away all selfishness, prejudice, and misunderstanding that we may be knit by the bands of love into one holy brotherhood in thee, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen. For Church Unity O God, who didst plan the Gospel for an undivided Church; refuse not, because of the misunderstandings of its message which rend the unity of Christendom, to continue thy saving work in the broken order of our making. Prosper the labors of all churches bearing the name of Christ and striving to further righteousness and faith in him. Help us to place the truth above our conception of it, and joyfully to recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit wherever he may choose to dwell among men; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. The Joy of Brotherhood O God, Creator of the world, Father of mankind; We thank thee for the blessing of life, for the joy of being thy sons. Inspire us, we pray thee, to faithful service in thy family on earth. Make us to know the infinite debt we owe our fellowmen, and let no pride of circumstance or narrowness of mind keep us from full and free communion with our brethren. And this we ask through the merits of him who called himself the Son of Man, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. H. S. Nash For Church Unity Grant, O Lord, that as there is one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, and one hope of our calling; so thy Church being made again one Body, may draw all nations into unity; through him who wills that all men should be one, even our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. For Christian Unity O God of Peace, who through thy Son Jesus Christ didst set forth one Faith for the salvation of mankind; Send thy grace and heavenly blessing upon all Christian people who are striving to draw nearer to thee, and to each other, in the unity of the Spirit and in the bond of peace. Give us penitence for our divisions, wisdom to know thy truth, courage to do thy will, love which shall break down the barriers of pride and prejudice, and an unswerving loyalty to thy holy Name. Suffer us not to shrink from any endeavor, which is in accordance with thy will, for the peace and unity of thy Church. Give us boldness to seek only thy glory and the advancement of thy Kingdom. Unite us all in thee as thou, O Father, with thy Son and the Holy Spirit, art one God, world without end. Amen. Bishop Anderson For Peace in the Common Life O Master of the hearts of men, make us to be ill content with any peace save that of our Saviour who won his peace, after he had made the world’s ills his own. Hold us back when, in our vulgar pride, we would go apart from the path and the life of the lowly. As our Saviour made the carpenter’s shop his school and from it passed to the perfection of Calvary, so may we keep ourselves close to the lives of the great body of men, and pass through things common unto the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. H. S. Nash For Radiance O Lord Jesus Christ, who art the Light of the world; Shine, we beseech thee, into our hearts by faith, and so fill us with thy radiance that we shall appear unto all men as the children of light, to the praise of thy holy Name; who, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, livest and reignest one God, world without end. Amen. For a Realization of Stewardship O Eternal God, who hast committed unto us the swift and solemn trust of life, since we know not what a day may bring forth, but only that the hour for serving thee is always present: Grant that we may give ourselves with a ready will to make thy way known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations. Teach us, our Father, by thine infinite love for us and for all men, to love those whom we have not seen, but with whom we may share the good things thou hast entrusted to us. Help us to pray instantly, to give liberally, and to work diligently, that the coming of thy Kingdom may be hastened; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.