Prayer - O You Who Dwell in the Heavens, We Lift Our Eyes to You

O You who dwell in the heavens, we lift our eyes to You. The morning calls us again to worship You, and we gladly come to Your feet with our homage. It is fitting that we should bring You our hearts' praise. We have been called from death, as it were, for in our sleep we were as if dead. Our waking is a new beginning of life. We would give ourselves to You for another day. We would consecrate the day to You, and would make it altogether Yours. We would make it a holy day, without spot. We would not do anything to stain its white page. We would write upon this little page of ours, only beautiful things -- a record of worthy deeds, of faithfulness, of kindness, of unselfishness.

But we know well that we can make this day white and worthy, only through Your help. We are naturally selfish -- but may You so fill us with Your love, that we shall do only loving things today. Preserve us from impatience, from outbreaks of temper, from quarrelsomeness, from all harsh and bitter speech. Help us as a family, to live together affectionately, bearing with one another, restraining anger and unkind feelings -- and manifesting only thoughtfulness, gentleness, and sweetness of spirit. Help us to make our home indeed a place of love, where no sharp or unkind words shall be heard, where each shall think only of the others' happiness. Make our home one in which Jesus Himself would consent to be a constant guest.

Then may our home today be a center of holy influences which shall flow out to give light, warmth, and cheer to other homes. There are households without Your love -- without the blessing of Your love revealed and understood. May the influence of our home, go out to help to make these homes truer. We ask in Jesus' precious name. Amen.

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FRIDAY EVENING

The shadows have deepened around us, O God, and we creep near to You. As birds fly to their nest when night comes, as little children run to their home -- so would we flee to You. Receive us and shelter us in Your divine love. We thank You that we have access to You; that though we have sinned, Jesus Christ died for sinners, and the way is open to us. We have no right to come to You, but through the mediation of Your Son. In His name we come, pleading for forgiveness and for access.

May Your blessing be upon all the work of our hands today. It has been faulty. But may You take it and build it into Your kingdom. You are using the weak things, the base things, and things that are nothing -- and You can use even the poor broken fragments of this day's efforts.

We ask for a special blessing on our home tonight. Bless our home-life. May each one of us know well his part in making the home beautiful and blessed -- and then may we all do what we know we should do, to bring the fullness of Jesus' peace into our home. May our fellowship as a family become more and more tender and affectionate. Save us from all bitterness and impatience, and all irritability, and from being easily provoked. May our home-love be strengthened, and may we learn to live together sweetly.

We would remember our neighbors. You have commanded us to love our neighbor as ourselves. We desire to obey You, and we ask You to teach us this divine love. If we have failed today, forgive us. Grant us more and more of Your love -- and then we can love aright.

Hear us, O God, in our prayer, and grant us Your holy peace. We ask all in the name of Christ Jesus. Amen.