October 19, 2020
A daily prayer during this COVID-19 crisis
During these difficult days, the United Methodist Foundation of New England is sharing a daily prayer based on the Revised Common Lectionary for the week.
You are welcome to use these in worship or in your own devotions.
Today’s prayer
Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17
1 Lord, you have been our refuge * from one generation to another. 2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or the land and the earth were born, * from age to age you are God. 3 You turn us back to the dust and say, * "Go back, O child of earth." 4 For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past * and like a watch in the night. 5 You sweep us away like a dream; * we fade away suddenly like the grass. 6 In the morning it is green and flourishes; * in the evening it is dried up and withered. 13 Return, O Lord; how long will you tarry? * be gracious to your servants. 14 Satisfy us by your loving-kindness in the morning; * so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life. 15 Make us glad by the measure of the days that you afflicted us * and the years in which we suffered adversity. 16 Show your servants your works * and your splendor to their children. 17 May the graciousness of the Lord our God be upon us; * prosper the work of our hands; prosper our handiwork. Dear Lord, help me to spread thy fragrance everywhere I go. Flood my soul with Thy spirit and life. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that all my life may only be a radiance of Thine. Shine through me, and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel Thy presence in my soul. Let them look up and see no longer me but only Thee O Lord! Stay with me, and then I shall begin to shine as Thou shinest; so to shine as to be a light to others. The light O Lord will be all from Thee; none of it will be mine; It will be Thou, shining on others through me. Let me thus praise Thee in the way Thou dost love best, by shining on those around me. Let me preach Thee without preaching, not by words but by my example, by the catching force, the sympathetic influence of what I do, the evident fullness of the love my heart bears to Thee.
By John Henry Cardinal Newman, selected by Pam DiMartino, Chief Financial Officer, the United Methodist Foundation of New England.