The Benefice of Barlings, Diocese of Lincoln : Parishes of Sudbrooke, Stainton by Langworth, and Barlings with Langworth

For Guidance / Discernment

 

 

 

 

O Lord,
May I be directed what to do,
And what to leave undone.                                               Elizabeth Fry

 

 

My dearest Lord,
Be thou a bright flame before me,
Be thou a guiding star above me,
Be thou a smooth path beneath me,
Be thou a kindly shepherd behind me,
Today and evermore.                                                       St. Columba

 

 

Grant me,O Lord,to know what is worth knowing,
To love what is worth loving,
To praise what delights you most,
To value what is precious in your sight,
To hate what is offensive to you.
Do not let me judge by what I see,
Nor pass sentence according to what I hear,
But to judge rightly between things that differ,
And above all to search out and do what pleases you,
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.                                       Thomas à Kempis

 

 

O God grant us the serenity                                     
To accept what cannot be changed                          
The courage to change what can be changed,            .
And the wisdom to know the difference.                          Reinhold Niebuhr
                   

alternative version

 

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference.

 

 

 

Grant us,O Lord,to know
In weakness,the strength of your incarnation,
In poverty,the riches of your Godhead,
In reproach,the satisfaction of your sympathy,
In loneliness,the comfort of your continual presence,
In difficulty,the efficacy of your intercession,
In perplexity,the guidance of your wisdom,
And,by your glorious death and resurrection,
bring us at last to the joy of seeing you face to face.            Anon

 

 

 

O God,
By whom the meek are guided in judgement,
And light riseth up in darkness for the godly :
Grant us,in all our doubts and uncertainties,
The grace to ask what thou wouldest have us to do;
That the Spirit of wisdom may save us from all false choices,
And that in thy light we may see light;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.                                William Bright

 

 

 

Lord God,
You have called your servants
To ventures of which we cannot see the ending,
By paths as yet untrodden,
Through perils unknown.
Give us faith to go out with good courage,
Not knowing where we go,
But only that your hand is leading us
And your love supporting us;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.                          The Lutheran Book of Worship

 

 

 

O God,
Grant us in all our doubts and uncertainties
The grace to ask what you would have us do;
That the Spirit of Wisdom may save us from all false choices,
And that in your light we may see the light,
And in your straight path may not stumble,
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.                            Anon

 

 

 

O Thou who art the source and ground of all truth,the Light of Lights,
Who hast opened the minds of men to discern the things that are,
Guide me,today,I beseech Thee,in my reading.
Give me grace to choose the right books and to read them in the right way.
Give me wisdom to abstain as well as to persevere.
Let the Bible have proper place;
And grant that I may be alive to the stirrings of Thy Holy Spirit in my soul.        
                                                                     John Baillie

 

 

Grant,O God your protection;
And in your protection,strength;
And in strength,understanding;
And in understanding,knowledge;
And in knowledge,the knowledge of justice;
And in the knowledge of justice,the love of it;
And in that love,the love of existence;
And in the love of all existence,the love of God,
God and all goodness.                                                Ancient Welsh Prayer

 

 

 

What is before us,we know not,
whether we shall live or die;
But this we know,
that all things are ordered and sure.
Everything is ordered with unerring wisdom
and unbounded love,
By thee,O God,who art love.
Grant us in all things to see thy hand;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.                              Charles Simeon

 

 

 

Lord,
If this be thy will,so let it be.
Lord if this is good and profitable,
give me grace to use it to your glory.
But if it be hurtful and injurious to my soul’s health,
then remove this desire from my mind,I pray.                Thomas à Kempis

 

 

 

Lord God,you call your servants
To ventures of which we cannot see the ending,
By paths as yet untrodden,
Through perils unknown;
Give us faith to go out with good courage,
Not knowing whither we go,
But only that your hand is leading us,
And your love supporting us;
To the glory of your name.