Help me this day to set aside any pleasure or desire that does not have you as its ultimate goal. Let me abstain from any pleasure that will not prepare me better to take pleasure in you. Keep me from being distracted by the pleasures that the world entices me to pursue, which would only entangle me and keep me from drawing closer to you. Cause me to be aware of where my senses, appetites, and emotions would carry me, and let me resist every movement that will not honor you or advance your good in this world. Let me have a small victory over these impulses today that I may hope for a greater victory tomorrow. Strengthen me to practice fasting, prayer vigils, and other spiritual disciplines. Let me accustom myself to small deprivations, so that no deprivation will ever cause me to be disloyal or disobedient to you.
From Rev. John Wesley's "A Collection of Forms of Prayer for Every Day of the Week" (1733) as adapted by David A. deSilva
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