Category: Time to Pray

  • 1 John 2:20-21 Anointed

    And you all have an anointing from the Holy One and you all know [the truth].

    I did not write to you:
    because you do not know the truth,  
    but because you know it,
    and because every lie is not from the truth. 

    Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
    Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
    Where there is injury, pardon;
    Where there is discord, union;
    Where there is doubt, faith;
    Where there is despair, hope;
    Where there is darkness, light;
    Where there is sadness, joy,
    For your mercy and for your truth’s sake. Amen

  • 1 John 2:18-19 Antichrists

    Children, it is the last hour, and just as you heard the antichrist is coming, now many antichrists have arisen, and so we know that is the last hour. 

    They have gone out from us but they were not from us.
    For if they were from us, then they would have remained with us. 

    But [this happened] to reveal that all of them are not from us.

    O Lord Jesus Christ,
    stay beside me to defend me,
    within me to guide me,
    before me to lead me,
    and above me to bless me,
    that with you and in you,
    I may live, and move and have my being,
    for ever and ever.
    Amen.

    (unknown)

  • 1 John 2:15-17

    Do not love the world, nor the things in the world.
    If someone loves the world, the love for  the Father is not in them. 

    Because all that is in the world-
    the desires of the flesh,
    the  desires of the eyes 
    and pride of of life 

    – is not from the Father, but is from the world. 

    And the world is passing away with its desires,
    but the one who does the will of God remains forever.

    God, give me grace to accept with serenity
    the things that cannot be changed,
    Courage to change the things
    which should be changed,
    and the Wisdom to distinguish
    the one from the other.

    Living one day at a time,
    Enjoying one moment at a time,
    Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
    Taking, as Jesus did,
    This sinful world as it is,
    Not as I would have it,
    Trusting that You will make all things right,
    If I surrender to Your will,
    So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
    And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

    Amen.

  • 1 John 2:12-14

    I write to you, little children, 
    Your sins have been forgiven because of his name. 

    I write to you, mature in the faith, 
    You have known him *,  who is from the beginning
    .

    I write to you, young in the faith, 
    You have overcome the Evil One.

    I wrote to you, little children
    You have come to know the Father. 

    I wrote to you, mature in the faith
    You have known him *,  who is from the beginning.

    I wrote you, young in the faith
    You are strong
    and the word of God dwells in you
    and you have conquered the Evil One. 

    —-

    *the Son?

    Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
    Naught be all else to me, save that thou art –
    Thou my best thought, by day or by night;
    Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

  • 1 John 2:10-11 More on Love and Light

    The one who loves their sister or brother dwells in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in them.  

    The one who hates their brother or sister is in the darkness and  they walk in the darkness  and they do not know where they are going, because the darkness blinds their eyes.

    Lord, you have given me so much,
    I ask for one more thing –
    a grateful heart.

    George Herbert

  • 1 John 2:7-

    Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment for you,
    but an old one which you have had from the start. 
    (The ‘old’ commandment is the teaching which you have heard.)

    Yet I am writing a new commandment to you:
    because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining
    [all] that is a truth – in him and in you.

    The one who says that they are in the light and hates their brother or sister  is in the darkness up to now. 

    The one who loves their sister or  brother dwells in the light
    and there is no cause for stumbling in them.

    Be thou a bright flame before me,
    Be thou a guiding star above me
    Be thou a smooth path below me
    Be thou a kindly shepherd behind me
    Today – tonight -forever
    Amen.

    St Columba

  • 1 John 2:3-6 Knowing we know…

    And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commands. 

    But the one who says ‘I know him’ and does not keep his commands is a liar
    and the truth is not him. 

    Whoever keeps his word, truly the love of God is made perfect in them.
    By this we know that we are in him. 


    The one who says they dwell in him must walk just as that one [Jesus] walked.

    O Love, O God who created me, in your love recreate me.
    O Love, who redeemed me,
    fill up in me whatever part of your love
    has fallen into neglect within me.
    O Love, O God, who first loved me,
    grant that with my whole heart,
    and with my whole soul,
    and with my whole strength,
    I may love you.

    Gertrude the Great

  • 1 John 2:1-2 Christ our Advocate

    If we say that we do not sin, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.

    (My little children, I write these things to you so that you might not sin.)

    And if anyone sins, we have an ‘advocate’ with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 

    And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins but for the whole world. 

    Teach us, good Lord,to serve thee as thou deservest;to give and not to count the cost;to fight and not to heed the wounds;to toil and not to seek for rest;to labour and not to ask for any reward,save that of knowing that we do thy will,through Jesus Christ our Lord.Amen
    St Ignatius

  • 1 John 1:5-10 God is light

    And this is the truth, which we have heard for him
    and announce to you,
    that God is light
    … and in him there is no darkness at all.

    If we say that we have fellowship with him
    yet we walk in darkness 
    we are lying and we are not putting truth into practise. 

    If we walk in the light
    as he is in the light
    we have fellowship with one another 
    and the blood of Jesus his son cleanses us from all sin.

    If we say that we do not have sin
    we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

    If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
    so that he will forgive us our sins and cleanse from all unrighteousness.

    If we say that we do not sin, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.

    Grant, Lord,
    that we may hold to you without parting,
    worship you without wearying,
    serve you without failing;
    faithfully seek you,
    happily find you,
    and forever possess you,
    the only God,blessed now and for ever.
    Amen

    St Anselm

  • 1 John 1:1-4 The Word of Life Part 2

    What was from the beginning, 
    what we have heard
    what we have seen with our eyes
    what we observed
    and what our hands touched – 
    (that is) about the word of life…

    [the life was revealed
    and we have seen (him/it)
    and we bear witness (to him/ it)]
    and we announce to you ‘resurrection life,’
    which was with the Father and 
    was revealed to us. 

    …that which we have seen
    and we have heard

    • we announce also to you,
    • so that you also may have fellowship with us
    • and our fellowship is with the Father, and with his son, Jesus Christ.

    And we write these things to you, so that our joy might be complete. 

    Thank you, dear Jesus,
    for all you have given me,
    for all you have taken away from me,
    for all you have left me.

    Thomas More (c.1478-1535)