A Prayer to Begin the Week Without Grumbling

Father, the week is in front of us and we already know some of what will go wrong. Before it begins, we ask you to work in us to will and to act according to your good purpose. We cannot manufacture the willing. Supply it, and we will work it out.

Guard our mouths from grumbling and our conversations from arguing. When we are tired, when we are treated unfairly, when the small things pile up, remind us that we are your children and that a crooked generation is watching to see whether we are any different.

Make us people who hold firmly to the word of life. Give us the mind of Timothy, who cared about others' welfare, and the endurance of Epaphroditus, who kept going when the errand cost him. And let us shine, not by our own brightness, but by yours in us. Amen.