Wesley Covenant

We've been finishing each chapter of Richard Foster's Prayer, Finding the Heart's True Home by using the printed prayer at the end of each chapter. (hmmm... note to self, if studying prayer why not practice what ye have learned? Sounds a little George Carlin-ish.). The chapter on covenant prayer examined some of the reasons people do not make a commitment to regular prayer. A commitment to God carries some high anxiety because we may feel that we cannot fulfill our promise, or perhaps that prayer will seem compulsory and no longer feel like we are drawn into prayer and cannot be spontaneous. We just don't want to be tied down with one more responsibility. We feel like the prayers are an outcome of work that come from us, but A.W. Tozer writes that at first it will seem that "...we are the initiators, but in time we will see that it is God who inflames our heart." The closing prayer seemed to be one that implied one was ready to make a covenant for regular prayer then and there, so instead of forcing a commitment at that moment we borrowed another written prayer by John Wesley. It's a prayer that many Methodists use in January, making a fresh covenant for the new year. (Reply to self: They are pretty good prayers, and touch on what the author hopes one will carry forward in one's growth in prayer. Good concern, but chill.)

My prayer for the congregation?

Dear God, We are thankful for the covenant you have made with your people. Where would we be without your commitment to us? Let us have the boldness to offer our commitment to you. Amen

Covenant Prayer - John Wesley
I am no longer my own but yours.
Your will, not mine, be done in all things,
wherever you may place me, in all that I do
and in all that I endure;
when there is work for me and when there is none;
when I am troubled and when I am at peace.
Your will be done when I am valued and when I am disregarded;
when I find fulfillment and when it is lacking;
when I have all things, and when I have nothing.
I willingly offer all I have and am to serve you, as and where you
choose.

Glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
you are mine and I am yours.
May it be so for ever.
Let this covenant now made on earth be fulfilled in heaven. Amen.