St. Nicolai Notes

Prayer for October 14-20, 2018 

Sermon Text: Mark 10:17-31

That we may relinquish everything that keeps us from following You without reserve

Jesus, we want eternal life by and in your presence. But we want everything else that we can get too.

We are so accustomed to excessive options that we are inclined to think that we can have as much as we want, or as much as we can afford, and then stuff you in the sack of our lives with everything else.

We are so deceived and enslaved by our wealth that we do not perceive the ways that this idolatry nullifies much of the good that we attempt to do. We fail to see how wealth commands our time, attention, energy—in fact, our devotion.

Let those who are not deceived by wealth remain free of its control. Let those of us who are already deceived and controlled find liberation in your powerful word that can break every chain.  

Enable us to celebrate the great riches that You have dispersed among your children without feeling compelled to possess an excess for ourselves. Enable us to relinquish everything that keeps us from following You with our whole being. Amen.