Daily Prayers for June 17
John Wesley (1703 – 1791)
Though his studies led him to become an Anglican cleric, John Wesley did not at first have a vibrant spiritual life. While en route to the colony of Georgia as a missionary, his ship lost its mast in a violent storm. Witnessing the Moravian passengers sing and pray peacefully through the storm, Wesley realized that he lacked “the one thing necessary.” After his heart was “strangely warmed” in a moving conversion experience, Wesley became a popular preacher among the working class of England and led the movement now called Methodism. The core of his message was that Christianity is based on the experience of God’s grace, which bears fruit through a life of love. Wesley said, “When I have money, I get rid of it quickly, lest it find a way into my heart.” He died at the age of eighty-eight, lifting his arms and saying, “The best of all, God is with us.”
O Lord, let my soul rise up to meet you
as the day rises to meet the sun.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Come, let us bow down and bend the knee : let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
Song “Come, Thou Fount”
Best of all, God : you are with us.
Psalm 88:15 – 19
Lord, why have you rejected me? : why have you hidden your face from me?
Ever since my youth, I have been wretched and at the point of death : I have borne your terrors with a troubled mind.
Your blazing anger has swept over me : your terrors have destroyed me;
they surround me all day long like a flood : they encompass me on every side.
My friend and my neighbor you have put away from me : and darkness is my only companion.
Best of all, God : you are with us.
Deuteronomy 31:30 – 32:14 Acts 9:1 – 9
Best of all, God : you are with us.
Prayers for Others
Our Father
This prayer of John Wesley is used by many Christians at the beginning of each year: “I am no longer my own, but thine. Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low for thee. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal. And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it. And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.”
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you;
may he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm;
may he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you;
may he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors.
