Friday, January 21, 2011

Waiting Gracefully: Guard Yourself


Oh, how we must guard ourselves and even those around us in these days of waiting. When I am teaching my daughter what is appropriate to wear, watch, listen to, say, etc... I am teaching her to guard herself.

We must think not only of our daughters but of our sons! What do we want them to be guarded against! How our daughters can tempt even without knowing it. These are the things we must protect.

"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." ~ Proverbs 4:23

One thing I used to do was pray this Prayer of Consecration each morning at breakfast:

"Lord, here are my hands;
I consecrate them to Thee.
May they never touch anything
that Thou wouldst not have them touch,
or do anything that would dishonour Thee.
And here are my feet;
I dedicate them to Thee.
May they never go
where Thou wouldst not be seen.
Here, Lord, are my eyes.
May they never look upon anything
that would grieve Thy Holy Spirit.
May my ears never listen to anything
dishonouring to Thy Name.
May my mouth never be opened to speak
a word that I would not want Thee to hear.
May my mind never retain a thought or
an imagination that would dim the sense of Thy Presence.
May my heart know no love,
and cherish no feeling that is not of Thee."

~ Oswald J. Smith
"The Man God Uses"

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes Monica, this is so good. Helping guide and learn to guard now is also training for the rest of their lives. It is so vital for me to diligently guard my heart as a 43yo Wife and Mom. Thank you for this encouragement!

Tim, Allyson, and kids said...

Monica,

I love this series and would really appreciate if you would make it easier to find all of your Waiting Gracefully posts. I'd love to pass them on to my sister and her college aged friends, but I can't seem to locate them very easily.

Please, let me know if this is possible for you.

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

A beautiful prayer! Thank you for sharing it!♥

Pamela said...

A beautiful prayer. I will copy it off to put in my prayer-time basket. My youngest is 18 and we still have conversations about guarding Emily guarding herself and by the words, clothes and attitudes guarding the young men around her. Such an important post.

Melissa said...

I go through periods when Proverbs 4:23 is on my heart daily. Our hearts are so very fragile but so very strong. I love that God provides perfect provision to keep our hearts clean... Now I just have to let Him rule inside there, taking every thought captive!

Beautiful prayer!!!