Here is a prayer from Pastor Scotty Smith. He titles it "A Prayer About Heart Care." It slapped me a bit.
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Heavenly Father,
The YMCA's, health clubs and fitness centers are presently burgeoning with post-holiday-feasting traffic. We're ready to leave the sugar/butter/carbohydrate binge of the past six weeks for the purge of cardio-care and sweat. Indeed, the beginning of a new year usually brings all kinds of resolutions including ones related to getting into shape and taking care of our "ticker." Certainly, this is a good thing, for stewardship of our hearts and health does bring you glory.
Yet I've never been more aware that spiritual formation based on the "binge and purge" cycle simply will not do. My heart needs to be strengthened by the grace of the gospel all year long. I cannot afford periods of "cruise control" when I leave the banquet of your love for the buffet of wanna-be "comfort foods". Just like the physical heart you've given me, the muscle of my "spiritual" heart will atrophy if I do not steward it well.
Here's my thanksgiving. I praise you for the "means of grace"--the good gifts you've freely given us to help us grow in grace. Thank you for the Bible, your very Word, through which you reveal yourself. Thank you for prayer, meditation and corporate worship, by which you meet with us and commune with us. Thank you for the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper, these tangible expressions of your covenant love. I praise you that I do not need to take out any kind of membership or join a club to take advantage of these and other wonderful "means of grace."
Here's my prayer. Because you love me, let me feel like the moron I am when I avoid the means of grace--when I simply do not take advantage of the primary ways my heart can be strengthened by your grace. By the convicting work of your Holy Spirit, let me far be more concerned about a flabby graceless-heart than bigger love handles. So very Amen, I pray, in Jesus' name.
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