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GIVE ME A HEART

Lord Jesus,
While I sail on
Over the troubled waters of my life,
Give me the contentment of knowing
That I have, as a compass,
A heart that will bring me to love's harbour.

Give me a HEART OF POVERTY,
Able to love and open up and give myself to others.

Give me a HEART OF PATIENCE,
Able to love and live in hope.

Give me a HEART OF PEACEFULNESS,
Able to love and sow peace in the world.

Give me a HEART OF JUSTICE,
Able to love and measure myself by the standard of justice.

Give me a HEART OF MERCIFULNESS,
Able to love and understand and forgive others.

Give me a HEART OF SENSITIVITY,
Able to love and weep without being discouraged.

Give me a HEART OF PURITY,
Able to love and see God in everyone.

Give me a HEART OF STRENGTH,
Able to love and be faithful unto death.

Give me a HEART TOUCHED BY THE GOSPEL,
Able to love.

from WCC collection of prayers from Latin America.

 

 

Passages for Inspiration

Enjoy these inspirational passages and use them in presentations, articles, workshops. Please reference the source as well as you can. Add your favorite for the benefit of others.

Abundant Life

I came that they might have life, and have it abundantly.
John 10:10

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Being Effective

If you think you're too small to be effective you've obviously never been in bed with a mosquito.
Anonymous

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Blessed Restlessness

Christians, for whom faith and politics have become intertwined, will want to keep their networks, centers and institutions alive. They will continue to search for opportunities to involve themselves in action...And they will be ready, if they hear the call, to enter upon a new spirituality, a new, possibly painful, experience of God, where the peace that passes all understanding becomes a blessed restlessness.
Gregory Baum

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Build and Inhabit

I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress. No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a lifetime; for one who dies at a hundred will be considered accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
Isaiah 65: 19-22

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Build Up Ancient Ruins

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion- to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, to display his glory. They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.
Isaiah 61 1:4

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Chosen Poor

My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, "Have a seat here, please," while to the one who is poor you say, "Stand there," or, "Sit at my feet," have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?
James 2:1-5

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Collaborating with God

One of the wonderful things is how God depends on all of us, which is actually mind boggling because here you have God who is omnipotent and yet waits on human creatures to be God's partners and collaborators. Each one of us has a contribution, each and every one of us.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu

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Community

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Hebrews 10:24-25

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Daily Bread

"Give us this day our daily bread" is probably the most perfectly constructed and useful sentence ever set down in the English language.
P.J. Wingate

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Doing Nothing

Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.
Edmund Burke

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Dream-keepers

Why do our societies ridicule the dream-keepers that are so vital to our communities? But they are out there, North and South, probably more among the young and the women, than others. We must search them out, cultivate them and yes, initiate the process of turning over leadership to them. Then we will begin constructing the New Beginning called for by Jubilee, and not over the course of another millennium, but in the course of the course itself, as a matter of both process and outcome. Transformation: there is no alternative.
Jubilee South

Excellence

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Philippians 4:8

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Fast I Choose

Is this not the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
Isaiah 58: 6

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For the Least of These

"for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me." Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?" And the king will answer them, "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me."
Matthew 25:35-41

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Hope

Hope is believing in spite of the evidence, and watching the evidence change.
Jim Wallis

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Interdependence

Before you finish eating your breakfast this morning, you've depended on half the world. This is the way our universe is structured.We aren't going to have peace on earth until we recognize this basic fact.
Martin Luther King

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Jubilee

The vision of Jubilee goes beyond the practice of Sabbath to re-establish right relation through redistribution of wealth/power: land goes back to the original owners; slaves are released with the generosity that would allow them to rebuild their lives; debts were remitted. The renewed vision of Jubilee is a "model of redemptive eco-justice" wherein periodically structures of socio-economic inequality are dismantled and community is restored. The culmination of this process occurs when 'humanity regains its right eco-social relationships and starts afresh'.
Rosemary Reuther

Justice and restoration are Jubilee's fundamental underpinnings. Solidarity should be its principal expression...
Jubilee South

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Justice in the wilderness

For the palace will be forsaken, the populous city deserted; the hill and the watchtower will become dens forever, the joy of wild asses, a pasture for flocks; until a spirit from on high is poured out on us, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness abide in the fruitful field.
Isaiah 32:14-16

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Let Justice Roll

I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon. Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream.
Amos 5:21-24

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Let Your Light Shine

You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others ..."
Matthew 5:13-16

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Love Justice

"And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God."
Micah 6.8

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Lund Principle

We should do together all that can be done together, and do separately only that which for conscience sake, must be done separately.
World Council of Churches

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Peace

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.
John 14:27

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Prayer

I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.
Frederick Douglass, escaped slave

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Reign of God

It helps every now and then to step back and take the long view. The Reign of God is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision...We are prophets of a future not our own.
Archbishop Oscar Romero

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Solidarity

Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Ecclesiastes 4:12

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Staying Quiet

To stay quiet is as political an act as speaking out.
Arundhati Roy

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Steadfast with Love and Justice

Thus says the LORD: Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth; but let those who boast, boast in this, that they understand and know me, that I am the LORD; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the LORD.
Jeremiah 9:24

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Swords and Ploughshares

They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more;
Micah 4:3

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Treasure

Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Matthew 6:21

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We Won't Kneel Down

In the face of these precarious economic challenges, we must keep dreaming the vision, keep educating, keep building organizations, with God's help, we won't kneel down.
Antonio, (Latin American partner)

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Send us a passage that is inspirational to you and we will add it. webtender[at]pwrdf.org