August 14

Beloved of Good Shepherd Church,

Grace to you and peace in Jesus Christ our Lord!

We are in the early stage of launching our capital campaign to raise funds to build a parish hall. Each of us is invited to pray a prayer as we discern how we are being called to participate. 

The short version of the prayer is this: 

Good and gracious God, what do you want to do through me? Amen. 

A medium size version of the prayer is this:

Good and gracious God, what do you want to do through me as we realize our dream of a parish hall together? What are you calling me to give of my resources to this project, so that our church can continue to grow and flourish for the sake of your love? We give you thanks for all those who came before us; guide us as we seek to make our contribution to this long, love-drenched tradition; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The long version of the prayer is this: 

Good and gracious God, We give you thanks for your gift of Good Shepherd Church to all of us. All that we have is yours. Give us the strength, courage, and inspiration to give back to you through the ministry of our church, so that Good Shepherd can continue to grow and flourish for the sake of your love. Help us to see what you want to do through us as we realize our dream of a parish hall together. Unite our wills to yours and let your will be done; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

I invite you to join me in praying one of those prayers daily as we begin the adventure of finding out what God has in store for us in the next few months. I hope you’ll pray for Good Shepherd and the Building Together capital campaign, but it also strikes me that the spirit of these prayers is applicable to everyday for the rest of our lives. God, what do you want to do through me? That’s just a good, solid question for followers of Jesus to have top of mind all the time. It is perhaps the doorway into the surrendered life. To have that question in the shape of a prayer is a good one to have in our mouths before we do anything. Will you join me in praying the short version - God, what do you want to do through me? Amen. -  this week as a daily practice? Take it like medicine: morning, noon, and night for a week. Let’s see what happens.

Remember this always - God loves you, and I love you too!

Love is all, 

Hendree+