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“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.

And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

Matthew 5: 27-37

Father of All Graces, I come to you in Jesus’ name with a grateful heart for all your goodness, and all the benefits with whom you have crowned our days.

Lord, forgive me when I lust after the things that this world offers me, and when in my foolishness I even try to pursue them leaving aside the path of holiness. Right hands and right eyes are no longer right if they lead us wrong, and how many times I have gone wrong!

You are King over all, please, I pray, stretch your scepter over the realm of my inward lusts. Help me to guard my mind with your Word, so that I will not allow any sinful thought to remain there, and grow and be made manifest in the flesh. Help me to battle against all sin the moment it starts playing in mind. Help me, Lord! Make me pure.

Help me to put away those things, those friends, those books, that music, that __________ which I know always leads me into sin. Help me to love you more than the sin within in me. Help me remember that to be cast into hell is too great a risk to run, merely to indulge the evil eye of lust or curiosity.

Father, let you Word be always my law. No matter how much our civil laws change, no matter how many Scriptures people twist, let me always be faithful to to your Word.  Your laws are perfect from the beginning; help me as I meditate on your Word to love it more than life. More than my own “wants.”

Lord, let my words be always true, let my words be whole, complete, truthful, always in agreement with your Word and my conduct -among the saints and those around me that still don’t know you- Help me, O Father, to speak the truth in every utterance of my lips.  I pray that character and conduct  be such that all acquainted with me will have the assurance that my word is my bond. I pray that my communications will be all  “yea” in the promise and “yea” in the performance, so that there will be no need for me to appeal to God in witness of my veracity. Let my ordinary speech, my day-to-day conversation be pleasant to you and to those who hear me.

And in this age of technology in which we write our profiles, we define who we are, let us be whole, always true to You. Help us be the same person, ruled by the same God, behind the screen and in the kitchen. May our lives, all of them, be pleasant to you, Oh Father.

I pray this in the name of Jesus, my Savior and King,

Amen.

Becky

 Note: All the phrases in italics are not mine, I took them from C.H. Spurgeon’s commentary on Matthew and from Arthur W. Pink’s commentary on the Sermon on the Mount.

Gustave Doré, The Sermon on the Mount

Father in Heaven, I come to you in Jesus name, to thank you for calling me and making a way for me to come before you to hear you speak to me through your Word. Thank you, for opening your mouth to teach us how to live the Christian life and thank you for the grace you give us to live it out. Thank you because you did not leave us without a map, without clear instructions, without knowing where to go. Thank you because you has sent your Holy Spirit to be our Helper, our Counselor, our Teacher. Thank you, Lord.

Father, I pray that I will not forget how desolate is the condition of my heart without You. Help me to see, my need of you every day. Help me see, O Lord, my emptiness, my sin, how poor I am without your forgiveness, without your mercy. Lord, remind me always that it is not a good self-esteem what I need, but You mending my brokenness. I need you, Lord, to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.

Father, we mourn for our losses. We have cried many times until we couldn’t cry anymore, we cried and our tears became our prayers because we could not utter any words. But God, how many times have I cried over my sin? Not many. O God, give me a repentant heart! Give me a heart that grieves when I sin. Give me a tender conscience that will not be OK, with the little sins in my daily life. Comfort me with your forgiveness, with the assurance of your salvation. And for our losses, and the pain, and the many tears, I thank you because we can also hope knowing that one day they will be no more. Oh, to know that one day you will wipe away all our tears!

Blessed are the meek… Lord, without you in my life it is impossible for me to be meek. For to be meek is to be humble, to be teachable, to be slow to anger and slow to speak. To be meek is to be willing to see and confess that I have wronged You and my beloved ones. To be meek is to wait on you without complaining, Lord, I cannot be meek apart from You. I need you so much, Lord!

Father, how easily we are deceived into thinking that we can satisfy our soul with many other things rather than your righteousness. When I don’t pray, when I don’t read your Word and then go off to live my daily life, I am making, without even noticing, a wider and deeper cistern that can hold no water. Help me, Lord, to seek you and you alone to provide for my deepest needs. Satisfy me in the morning with your steadfast love, Father. Draw me to you, every day, all day. When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me first and foremost to you, my Rock. Draw me to your presence, to your Word where I can find Living Water so that I will thirst no more. O God, fill my cup, fill it until it overflows.  Father, I want to eat your Word, to taste and see how it is sweeter than the honey comb. I want to eat from the Bread of Life every day and be satisfied, and be truly blessed. Thank you for setting the table and for calling me to sit at your table not as a stranger, but as your dear child.

When I mutter, “Blessed are the merciful, because they shall receive mercy…” I think of how much mercy I have received from your hand. Every morning your mercies are new towards your people; every single morning you bless me with new mercies that flow from your Throne of Grace. Every morning I open my eyes and the first thing I taste is your mercy, your goodness. If I could only remember this as I live my life! Help me live a life of mercy. To be at all times merciful to my husband, my children, my friends, my neighbors, my enemies. Help me to give mercy to those whom I find hard to love. Help me, to give mercy in the same way that you have given it to me: endlessly and freely.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God,” I love to meditate on this beatitude, Lord. What an amazing promise you have given us!  And it is amazing because you have provided a way for us to have a pure heart so that we can see you. Thank you for giving us Jesus, who gave his own life for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify us for himself. Thank you because you cleanse us, because you give us new hearts. Thank you because you clothe us with robes of righteousness. Thank you because you no longer see our filthy sin, but Jesus in us. Thank you because we can live this life knowing that we shall indeed see you. Lord, I don’t want to forget this promise, not for a second: I shall see you and not perish, it is because of your grace that I have a pure heart, cleansed by the blood of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

You have cleansed my heart and make it pure so that I may have peace with you.While I was still a sinner, Lord, when I was still your enemy, you sent Jesus to pay the price for my sins, to carry my guilt and shame, to save me. Lord, when I did not love you, you loved me and drew me to you. Your call was irresistible, your grace amazing. You even made me your child! And now you call me to be a peacemaker, just like you. To love the unlovable, to forgive the unforgivable. To reach out and and as far as it depends on me, live peaceably with all, always overcoming evil with good, always giving acts of mercy and never revenge. Father, that the world may know us, your children, because of our efforts to live peaceably with one another. That the world may know that we are your children because of the love we have among ourselves, and the acts of mercy that we show to those who are in need.

Lord, when I consider that persecution for righteousness’ sake is a blessedness, I have to admit that I have many, many times neglected praying for my brothers and sisters that are being terribly persecuted around the world. In your Providence you have set my feet in a place, in a time, in a situation where fierce persecution is almost null, but let me never forget that it might come. It is my prayer that if it comes to my life, or to the life of my beloved ones, you will give us the strength, the endurance, that eternal vision of the reward that awaits for those you have chosen to suffer, so that we may never deny your Name.

I give you thanks, Father, because you hear the prayers of your own because of Jesus’ sake. Thank you, because you have shown us the way we should go. Thank you for your Word is your own breath and it is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness the righteousness in my life I need to be blessed. Make me, O God, a complete woman, equipped for every good work.

In Jesus name,

Amen

Becky