This prayer came to me yesterday morning, and proved surprisingly difficult to put into words:
I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them (1 Timothy 2:1; NLT).
Lord,
I pray for joy and peace
In every mind, and heart, and soul,
But if that’s far too much to ask,
Please help us all to grow in self-control.
Lord,
I pray for friendliness
In every soul, and mind, and heart,
But if that’s far too much to ask,
May tolerance become our place to start.
Lord,
I pray for love of all
In every heart, and soul, and mind,
But if that’s far too much to ask,
Please teach us to be humble, wise, and kind.
The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-3; NLT).
References
Pray for peace (Psalm 122:6; NLT).
Make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone (2 Peter 1:5-7; NLT).
All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom (Psalm 111:10; NLT).
Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:1-3; NASB95).