July 31 Prayer

‘Do all things for the greater glory of God’ 1Cor.10:31-33
As you come to prayer today let the warmth of his loving presence fill your whole being.
Whatever we do comes out of being filled with the Holy Spirit of love. Otherwise our actions will be self seeking and for our own good not for the good of others. Paul tells us that in whatever we do, to do everything for God’s glory. Choosing the greater things, the higher road is choosing to follow Jesus.

‘And make sure you’re not offending anyone, any other group or any part of God’s church over your personal preferences. I try to please everyone in all things, rather than doing what is best for me; I do what is best for others.’
Notice Paul says he tries to please everyone and not give offense to anyone.
A seemingly impossible task in these times, for whatever we do or say can be taken in an offensive way.
So what do we do? How do we ‘live for the greater glory of God.’
St.Ignatius of Loyola was a nobleman in Spain during the 15th century that coined the phrase after St.Paul. Only during recovery from having his legs seriously shattered in battle did he come to a place of surrendering his life to Christ. His salvation came through reading about the life of Christ and of other followers who lived for the greater good and for the glory of God. This inspired him to answer the call to lay down his sword and follow a new way.
So maybe this is a good place to start. To lay down our swords, the hill we think is so important that we miss the opportunity to lead others to Christ with love. Maybe our church and our lives could be an example to inspire others to follow too.

Pause humbly before the Lord now and let your heart be cleansed of any self-seeking or personal preferences that offends another.

“ Lord Jesus, we desire you, we long for your ways to be made manifest through our lives, so we now lay down our swords of our own ways before you.
May we know your deep love for us that everything we do will be for the greater good of others.
We cannot do this out of our own will but from the inspiration of your Holy Spirit.
Help us today, to attend to your spirit within us in everything we do and in every thought we have of offense, stop us there to turn over our thoughts to you.
Fill us with your very life, with every breath we take for the greater glory of God.
We pray,
‘You have given all to me, and to you, Lord, I return it. Everything is yours; do with it what you will. Give me only your love and your grace for that is enough for me.’
Amen