May the grace and peace of God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Every time I remember you,
I thank my God.
Every day I pray for you with joy –
from the first day until now –
for your coming together in the Gospel
gives confidence
that the good work
God began in you
will come to completion
in the day of Christ Jesus.
It’s right to think this way
as our hearts hold us together
in the Grace of God,
binding us and confining us
to defend and confirm the Good News.
For God is my witness
that I long for you all
from the very depths of Christ.
And this is my prayer:
That your love may grow and grow
in knowledge and insight,
so you may know what’s best
and discern what’s of value,
becoming genuine and guiltless
each day in Christ
as you're filled
with the fruit of righteousness,
given to you through Christ Jesus
to bring glory and praise to God.
© 2014, Mary Harwell Sayler prayer-a-phrased this poem from today’s Bible Reading in Philippians 1:1-11, drawing from many of the translations on Bible Gateway and also her previous prayer-a-phrase, which appeared last year, entitled “May the peace of the Lord be with us.”
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