There is a beautiful payer that BL was fond of praying whenever he sinned or failed to pray and meditate each day, and it is a prayer I have grown to love: God, I shall never do otherwise, if You leave me to myself; it is You who must hinder my falling and mend what is amiss! When BL finished with this heartfelt prayer he then just continued his prayer and meditation and did not look back at his failures.
What is so striking to me is the profound and simple understanding of the grace of God that was BL’s, for he knew that he would never do anything on his own that would bring him to daily prayer and meditation, and that he would never live without sin on his own strength. I shall never do this on my own, he prayed to God, if You, God, leave it to BL alone to accomplish daily prayer and meditation and to live a life without sin. How truthful it is to realize and acknowledge to God that, left to our own wits and will power, we will push God away. You and I cannot leave it up to ourselves to accomplish any kind of union with God and to be aware of and in love with His Divine Presence. Only God must hinder and stop our falling away from Him and to heal and mend and fix the mess we have created on our own and totally messed. Consider the lost sheep and who it is who goes after the lost sheep (see Luke 15 below)! It is not the lost sheep who finds its own way out of the mess it created!
Let this, then, be our prayer today, our prayer for God’s sufficient grace:
God, I shall never do otherwise, if You leave me to myself; it is You who must hinder my falling and mend what is amiss!
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.
From the Bible:
“God said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness’” 2 Corinthians 12:9.
“By grace you have been saved through faith” Ephesians 2:8-9.
“But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace” Romans 11:6.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” John 1:14.
“So he told them this parable: 4 “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” Luke 15:3-7.
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