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Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Church: The Whole Body

I want to teach my children to have a close relationship with our Lord and Savior. Prayer habits that last a lifetime are most often formed in childhood. As adults model meaningful prayer lives, kids will learn how they, too, can talk to their Creator. That’s why each day this month I will be writing a prayer inspired by a different letter of the alphabet and sharing an accompanying verse from the Bible.

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free- and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
1 Corinthians 12:12-13


Father God, how often we take the narrow view “church” means the building and the people within its walls when the term actually refers to your entire body of followers. We all think and act differently, but Your commandment is for us to be as one. Despite our variety of backgrounds and opinions, help us to live and worship in harmony. Give us the grace to look past petty differences and believe that You will align our hearts with the work You have called us to do. Thank you for guarding our uniqueness while reminding us we are collectively one body, Lord - Yours. Amen.

20 comments:

Angela Brown said...

Is there anyway you can put this prayer up on a billboard in every town across America?

Kela McClelland said...

Very nice prayer :)

rch said...

A local church burnt down here in Amsterdam and it was subsequently rebuilt, I was inspired to pen a poem about the congregation's dedication and I titled it 'Foundation' because they were the heart of that building, great post.

Dani said...

Amen! Another great post!

Nicole said...

That's a beautiful prayer. Thank you!

Rob-bear said...

"Yes!" said the Bear.

Blessings and Bear hugs.

Darlene said...

Amen. Lovely prayer. Fellow A-Z blogger and new follower.
http://enelrad-darlene.blogspot.com

Pat Carroll Marcantel said...

Love the concept, Sylvia. PTL!

A Girl and Her eBooks said...

Simply wonderful.

CLR said...

I will now be a follower of your sight. Thank you. Amazing how our God works. I've been pondering the body of the Church...and then found this. Thank you.

Emily Genther said...

Lovely post. I like the theme you're working with this month. We can all use the uplifting reminders.

Jay Paoloni said...

Sylvia,
You chose a very meaningful passage from the Bible.
The prayer you wrote highlights an important characteristic we all share: equality.
Thank you for joining my blog!
I'm now a member of yours and I look forward to your next posts!

Jay
jacopopaoloni.blogspot.com

JOY 2 JOURNEY said...

Amen! I found you through the comment you left on my blog :) Thanks for stopping by my blog too. Looking forward to reading your A to Z's!
Hugs,
Bj

Sheila Siler said...

Beautiful prayer - thank you for sharing!

Jessica Ferguson said...

Beautiful, Sylvia!

Margo Berendsen said...

"guarding our uniqueness while reminding us we are collectively one body" - so well said!!! I love how God can achieve what to us is a seeming paradox!

Debra Harris-Johnson said...

Great post and great prayer. Especially nice for this Easter season. May God bless you and your family
dreamweaver

Clare said...

I've just read through all three of your prayers and they were all beautiful. They offer great teachings on which to live our lives by, and hopefully bring us closer to God.

Thank you for sharing these prayers.

God bless you and your family.

Anne Mackle said...

Lovely prayer. Thanks for visiting my blog.
http://www.cassam-isanyonethere.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

May it not be a Stained Glass Masquerade (as per Casting Crowns).