Page:The church manual (Church of the Brethren 1916).djvu/52

Rh for thy watchful care over us during the night. We thank thee for rest and sleep, for health and strength of body and mind, and for many and innumerable blessings that thou art ever bestowing upon us. We thank thee for home, for friends, for the religious liberty we enjoy, and above all, we thank thee for the gift of thy dear Son, our Savior, and the easy terms upon which salvation is offered to all. And we pray thee to accept this, our tribute of praise, for all thy mercies shown.

And now, we pray thee to take us into thy tender care for this day. Let thy blessing be upon us, and grant that all we do may be done in a way that will please thee, and in some way redound to our own good and to thy glory. Bless us in our business, in our labors, and in all things in which we are concerned; give to us those things which thou knowest will be best for us, and we pray thee to give us wisdom to use the gifts bestowed upon us to the glory of thy name and for the promotion of thy cause.

With us, we pray thee to remember our friends, our neighbors, the poor and needy, the sick and afflicted, the ungodly and the sinner. We also pray thee in mercy to remember the rulers of our land and nation. Bless them with wisdom and grace, that, under their administration, the peace and prosperity of our land and nation may be continued.

We pray thee to let thy special blessing rest upon thy church and people. Bless thy ministry and all that labor for thee. Bless the membership. Fill each one with thy truth and Spirit, that all may be profitable laborers in thy vineyard, and valiant soldiers of the cross. We pray thy blessing upon the mission work of the church, and those who are laboring for it and in it, that thy truth may be preached to all thy creatures, that souls may be saved from the