Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit

If you'd open up your Bibles to Matthew chapter 5, we're going to be looking at the Beatitudes

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

for the next two months.

And so I'd like to read for you Matthew 5.

We'll just go 1 through 16.

Hear God's Word.

Seeing the crowds, He, Jesus, went up on the mountain, and when He sat down, His disciples

came to Him.

And He opened His mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs

is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against

you falsely on my account.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.

For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?

Lord, it is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.

You are the light of the world.

A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.

Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand.

And it gives light to all in the house.

In the same way, let your light shine before others,

so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

May God bless the hearing of his word.

This morning, we begin a sermon series in the Beatitudes.

So we're going to be in here for the next couple months.

And the Beatitudes are at the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew.

In the Gospel of Matthew, if you're not familiar with it,

it's basically a biography about Jesus, God with us, the King.

And so we learn early, like in chapter 3,

Jesus is baptized by J.T.B., John the Baptist.

And then in chapter 4, Jesus is tempted by the devil.

And he responds every time by quoting God's word.

He starts his public ministry.

He starts gathering his disciples.

And here he sits on a mountainside

and preaches what is likely the greatest sermon ever preached.

It is his inaugural address as Emmanuel, the King.

It is his kingdom manifesto.

And in this sermon, he moves from the character of his citizens

to the conduct of his citizens.

And we're going to be focusing for the next two months

on the character of his citizens right out of the Beatitudes.

He's very interested in helping us think about who we are as his citizens.

And from there, we live out kingdom conduct.

You can ask the question, why?

Why are we doing this?

Why are we going to focus two months of our lives as a church

on the Beatitudes, focusing on the character of Christ's kingdom citizens

at this time?

Well, there's something else going on in our nation at this time.

We're going to be in the middle of a contentious presidential election.

And the likelihood of you being influenced by that election is high.

That you would form your identity functionally from what you're hearing day in and day out

through the election.

That you will be affected emotionally, internally by what you're seeing and hearing.

So, I want to love you through this election cycle.

And I want to not just remind you that you are a citizen of the kingdom, brother, sister.

But citizens of the kingdom have a particular posture of heart.

A character that is spelt out by Jesus, our King, here in the Beatitudes.

Now, when you read, blessed are the poor in spirit, I'm guessing you're thinking something.

You're like, well, that sounds interesting.

I'm not wanting to really sign up for poor or poverty, though.

What I want to help you to see is this poverty of spirit.

It's not something so much you do.

It's something you are.

It's a spiritual bankruptcy that we all need to declare on a daily basis.

And there is great blessing in that.

And so this morning, we're going to tackle the first of these eight Beatitudes.

And there's a reason why this is the first one.

Jesus is brilliant in leading off with this.

We're going to get into not just blessed are the poor, but we're going to look next week.

Blessed are those who mourn, who are meek, hunger, and thirst after righteousness,

who are merciful, pure in heart.

They're peacemakers.

Blessed are those who are persecuted.

And it all depends on this first one.

Blessed are the poor in spirit.

These are eight distinct character traits of every citizen of the kingdom.

So here's how we're going to proceed this morning with this first one.

I'm going to ask four questions and answer them.

Question number one is, hey, what's the biblical landscape that we're in right now?

Just kind of a general framing to get your bearings.

And then we're going to kind of dig into 5.3, this actual Beatitude.

Who are the poor in spirit?

What does that mean?

The third question is going to be, why is being poor in spirit first?

And then fourth, how do we do the poor in spirit thing?

What does that look like on a daily basis?

How do we do that?

So in light of that, let's turn to this first question.

What is this biblical landscape of the Sermon on the Mount?

If you're showing up to a city for the first time, you want to get your bearings, right?

You want to know where you are.

And so when we turn to the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, 6, and 7,

I just want to give you an overall flow of the sermon.

Jesus isn't preaching an enumerated sermon.

In other words, he's not making four points, and we don't see him saying,

point one, and then moving on to point two, point three, point four.

But there is this definitive movement in the sermon.

Let me help you see it.

In chapter 5, 3 through 16, Jesus talks about character through the Beatitudes.

This is who we are as citizens of the kingdom.

This is what marks us.

And then in chapter 5, verses 17 through chapter 7, verse 27,

he focuses on the conduct of citizens of his kingdom.

And he spells that out through obeying particular commands he issues.

And so the movement on the Sermon on the Mount starts with character and moves to conduct.

And what I want to help you to see, it's all about God's grace.

All of these blessings, blessed be, blessed, blessed,

that is declarations of God's grace on this particular citizen of the kingdom.

God's grace changing character.

And as a result, God's grace changing conduct.

So first and foremost, I want to help you to see this feature of this landscape, this sermon.

It's really about grace.

Changing our characters and changing our conduct.

We're going to be focusing on character.

Now there's some other features about this sermon.

What Martin Lloyd-Jones talks about, the spiritually logical sequence of this particular sermon.

First, there's an order.

There's a reason why he starts in pouring the Spirit and ends in,

blessed are the persecuted.

But there's some other things I want you to notice.

All eight of these Beatitudes, all eight are to characterize each of us.

It's like the fruit of the Spirit, where all nine fruit of the Spirit are to characterize each Christian.

All eight of these character traits in the Beatitudes are to mark every one of us.

Furthermore, there is this already not yet aspect to the Beatitudes.

You can see it.

In chapter 5, verse 3, you see,

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

And you look down at verse 10, it says,

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

That same phrase, that same promise is used at the beginning and the end of the Beatitudes,

and it bookends it.

It's an inclusio.

It helps you to think it's being framed by that.

So, all of these Beatitudes are, there's this like now component to it.

It's now.

The kingdom is ours now.

But as you look at the six Beatitudes inside those,

all the promises are future.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

And so there is this future orientation.

There's this already and not yet, which means this.

Yes, we're going to experience blessings of the kingdom now, but in part.

We're going to experience the fullness of God's blessing then, when Jesus comes back.

There's an already not yet dimension to the Beatitudes.

One last thing.

I just want you to see the significance of chapter 5, verse 1 and 2.

Seeing the crowns, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him,

and he opened his mouth and taught.

This is Emmanuel.

This God-man would die and be raised from the dead.

He's reigning on high right now.

He's the Psalm 2 son on the throne.

And here he sat down.

It's the posture of a rabbi.

And his disciples come around him.

Here's how I want you to think about the next two months.

Think about Jesus sitting down.

And we, his disciples, Sunday after Sunday, are coming around him to hear what he says.

And not just hear it so we can hear it, but we hear it so we can live it.

So there's some biblical landscape for you to get your bearings as we now head into the first Beatitude.

So let's ask this next question.

Who are these poor in spirit people?

What does that mean?

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Well, before I tell you what poor in spirit means, whatever that means, they're blessed.

And that word blessed shows up in this passage nine times in short space,

which means Jesus is wanting to get your attention.

Blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed.

Now there's some other spots of blessed in your Bible.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers,

but his delight is in the law of the Lord,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

We just heard Les read it in Psalm 2.

The first one was Psalm 1-1, by the way.

Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,

for his wrath is quickly kindled.

Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Psalm 119, 1 and 2.

Blessed are those whose way is blameless,

who walk in the law of the Lord.

Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,

who seek him with their whole hearts.

Blessed, blessed, blessed.

Blessed.

And then you get into Jeremiah 17, 5, that says,

Cursed is the man who trusts in man,

who makes flesh his strength.

And then verse 7.

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

whose trust is the Lord.

The word blessed gets used in your Bible in a variety of ways.

People bless God, but God blesses people.

It's a way of talking about approval.

So when we hear Jesus say blessed repeatedly,

he's talking about people in whom God has blessed.

God has graced.

God has approved, not by any merit on their own,

but by a sheer act of grace.

All this blessedness, all this blessedness,

at the heart of it is God's grace.

Undeserved, unmerited grace.

These kingdom citizens are citizens who've been delivered out of the domain of darkness

and transferred into the kingdom of the beloved son,

the saving reign of Jesus,

by the grace of God.

This is not some blessing that we earn.

This is not some blessing that happens as a result of our obedience.

It's by God's grace and God's grace alone.

And so when we read blessed are the poor in spirit,

do you know what's being said?

Graced are those who've declared spiritual bankruptcy.

Graced of God.

Happy are those who've experienced the undeserved approval of God

in their spiritual bankruptcy.

So let's talk about what this poor in spirit means.

The poverty here is not a material poverty.

We know that because we see very clearly it's a poor in spirit.

Not in checking account.

And then we read this poor in spirit.

It's not the Holy Spirit being referenced here.

This is your inner man being referenced.

Who you are on the inside.

Your nature.

Blessed are those who are unresourced in the whole in their inner beings.

Do you know what the opposite of the poor in spirit is?

You may say, well, it's being rich in spirit.

Well, that's getting at it.

The English phrase that would get at it is being full of yourself.

That's what the opposite of being poor in spirit is.

It's pride.

It's arrogance.

It's putting yourself first.

It's living as if you're the controlling center of your own kingdom.

And so when we talk about poor in spirit, we're talking about humility.

There's this passage in Luke 18.

In Jesus' teaching.

I'm going to read it to you.

There's two people in this parable.

In your mind as I'm reading it, think which one is full of themselves and which one is poor in spirit.

You ready?

Jesus also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt.

This is Jesus speaking.

Two men went up into the temple to pray.

One a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

The Pharisee was a religious professional.

The tax collector would have been seen as a Jewish sellout.

The Pharisee standing by himself prayed thus.

God, I thank you that I am not like other men.

Extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

I fast twice a week.

I give tithes of all that I get.

Amen.

Amen.

But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying,

God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

Which one?

Who's full of himself?

Who's poor in spirit?

Jesus says this.

I tell you, this man, this tax collector, went down to his house justified.

Declared righteous in his sight.

Rather than the other.

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, Pharisee.

But the one who humbles himself will be exalted, tax collector.

What we're talking about when it comes to poor in spirit, what does it mean to be poor in spirit?

It means to be humble towards God.

To be able to say at any given time, oh God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

It's a posture.

It's who we are.

It's a declaration of spiritual bankruptcy to God.

If you've ever been through bankruptcy, it's humiliating.

You've got to admit that you have just far exceeded anything that you could afford.

You've built up all this debt and you have no resources to get, even come close to paying it off.

So you need financial legal protection.

It's desperation.

It's like, this is the only thing I can do.

That's what it means to be poor in spirit in relationship to God.

When you consider your own sins, when you consider your sin debt that you're carrying,

of all the sins that you've committed for all of your life,

and you realize you've dug yourself into a sin debt hole that there's no getting out of.

You can't obey your way out of that.

And then when you realize, too, in addition to, I can't get out of this,

all of that carries a consequence.

Eternal punishment.

Because it's against God.

Then you start feeling the weight.

You start feeling the weight of your debt.

Your need.

That's why the tax collector said, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

They understood.

In that parable, they were spiritually bankrupt.

There's this song.

It's a hymn.

Rock of Ages.

Stanza three.

Nothing in my hands I bring.

Simply to thy cross I cling.

Naked, come to thee for dress.

Helpless, look to thee for grace.

Foul, I too, the fountain fly.

Wash me, Savior, or I die.

Do you know what that is?

That's a declaration of spiritual bankruptcy.

That's sung.

We sing it together.

Declaring our spiritual bankruptcy.

There's nothing that we bring to this salvation.

We have no spiritual resources before a living God, holy God.

We're in huge spiritual debt.

Romans 3.23 says it this way.

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Do you know what this means?

What, is there 8 billion people on the planet right now?

Everybody is spiritually bankrupt.

Everyone.

They are spiritually indebted.

They can't get their way out.

Find their way out.

Do you know what separates citizens of the kingdom from everybody else?

We declare it.

We acknowledge before God that we are spiritually indebted to Him and we can't pay it.

Blessed are the poor in spirit.

Give me that promise.

Tell me the promise.

Blessed.

Blessed.

Blessed.

Blessed.

Graced of God.

Are those who have declared spiritual bankruptcy.

For.

Promise.

Theirs is.

Promise.

The kingdom of heaven.

The saving reign of God.

Those who have been brought under the kingship.

Saving, gracious kingship of Jesus.

Tell me about it.

Here's what that means.

If you have acknowledged your spiritual bankruptcy, your depravity to Him, to God.

Do you know what He does?

Welcome to the kingdom.

You're the one I was looking for.

Come on in.

In fact, anyone who confesses their spiritual bankruptcy to Jesus will be completely forgiven of all of their sin debt.

Can I just read you two passages?

Listen to this.

This is Ephesians 1, verse 7.

Ephesians 1:7

In Him, Jesus, we have redemption through His blood.

We've been purchased from slavery, from debt.

In Him, we have redemption through His blood.

The forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace.

The riches of His grace.

And then there's this.

2 Corinthians 8, 9.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

That though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor.

He took on your sin penalty.

So that you, who were poor,

under the condemnation of sin,

by His poverty might become rich.

What a Savior.

What a King.

This one speaking these words

would go to His death willingly,

innocently,

to die for your sin and my sin

so that He could forgive us.

And then He was raised

so that we could live for Him.

Debt free!

Do you know what being freed of all of your sin debt,

do you know what kind of state that is?

That's a blessed state.

That's a by God's grace state.

Blessed are the poor in spirit.

Blessed, happy are the spiritually bankrupt

who've declared it,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

By the way,

no one

can enter the kingdom of the beloved Son

without first declaring spiritual bankruptcy.

There's no one in the kingdom

who's full of themselves.

Only those

who declare this spiritual bankruptcy.

Those who are living in reality.

Question three.

Why is poor in spirit the first on the list?

Why is this the first beatitude?

I mean,

it's not like Jesus just threw these beatitudes together.

He purposefully

placed poor in spirit in pole position.

Why did He do it?

Well, as I just mentioned,

you cannot enter Christ's kingdom

without first declaring

spiritual bankruptcy.

So,

if you want to come into the kingdom,

you need to declare that to Jesus.

And He says,

Oh,

you're the one I've been looking for.

Come on in.

I've paid for your sin.

Here's the riches of my grace.

But this is

first in another way as well.

Do you think

Do you think

He will mourn your sin

if you're not first

poor in spirit?

You won't.

You won't mourn your sin

if you're not first poor in spirit.

If you don't think

you've got

an eternal nature problem,

you're not going to mourn your sin.

You think you're going to be

meek and gentle towards others

if you're not poor in spirit?

Hunger and thirst after righteousness,

mercy,

pure in heart.

Do you think

you're going to want

to make peace with others

if you're not

first poor in spirit?

People who are full of themselves

aren't going to make peace

with others.

Do you think

you'll actually

be willing to suffer

for Jesus

if you're not

first poor in spirit?

So this is first

for a reason.

This is humility.

This is

acknowledging the reality

that Jesus Christ

is the controlling center

of all things

and my rightful place

is orbiting him.

sin.

James 4.6 and 1 Peter 5.5.

They both quote

Proverbs chapter 3.

Proverbs 3 · chapter mention

God opposes the proud

but gives grace

to the humble.

God opposes

those who are full of themselves

but boy does he give grace

to those who declare

spiritual bankruptcy.

I don't know about you

but I

am convinced

of my spiritual bankruptcy.

You may not

want to see yourself

as poor.

The reality is

you are.

You are.

You are.

You are.

You are.

You are.

Spiritually bankrupt.

There is a verse

that I was introduced to

maybe 25 years ago

by a mentor

and it's one of those

verses that

once you hide it

in your heart

it becomes one of those

verses that help you

again and again.

Do you know

who catches God's eye?

Isaiah 66

Isaiah 66:2

verse 2

the second half of it

we read this.

This is God speaking.

This is the one

to whom I will look.

This is the one

who catches my gracious eye.

He who is

humble

contrite in spirit

and trembles at my word.

Do you know what is

of highest value

in the kingdom?

Poverty of spirit.

It's not like the world

we live in is it?

Why does God delight

in poverty of spirit?

Why does he

put this first?

Why is he putting

such a premium

on it?

I mean

is

is God just a control freak?

Is he just power hungry?

Or maybe on the other side

maybe

maybe he has a self-esteem

problem

and he commands people

to

humble themselves

so that they can build up

his self-esteem.

It's utterly ridiculous.

He doesn't require

our humility

because of some weakness

on his part.

John Piper

makes this argument.

He asks it this way.

Do you know who

the greatest worshiper

of God is?

God

is the greatest

worshiper of God.

He's fully convinced

and delights

in his own

unmatched worth

and he wants

even requires

us

to know

and delight

in his

unsurpassed worth

and you know

how you get there?

He declares

spiritual bankruptcy.

Why does God

delight

in our humility

towards him?

Because

it's right!

You've heard me

use this illustration

12 million times

but it's so helpful

let me use it again.

Prior to

Nicholas Copernicus

in the 16th century

most people

thought

that

the sun

orbited the earth

in some kind of

geocentric

solar system

but we all know

now

that they were

mistaken

because what

Nicholas Copernicus

realized

through observation

is that we live

in a heliocentric

solar system.

All the planets

orbit the sun

not the other way around.

So before

Mr. Copernicus

everybody thought

they were living

in reality

but they weren't!

Humility

poverty of spirit

is realizing

that the world

does not orbit

you.

God does not

exist for you

but you

exist for God.

He's at the

glorious center

of all things

and that's

why

he

prioritizes

being

poor in spirit.

It's living

in reality.

Humility

is living

in

reality

the way

things really

are.

Now if you

think

that being a

Christian

means

giving Jesus

parts and pieces

of your life

you're probably

full of yourself.

Jesus doesn't

want parts

and pieces

to your life.

Who he is

demands

requires

all of it.

All of it.

And the way

to respond

to Jesus

is to deny

yourself

take up your

cross

and follow him.

another way

of declaring

spiritual

bankruptcy.

Why is

this first?

Because it

all starts

with humility.

It is

the first

and foremost

characteristic

of being

a citizen

of the kingdom

and man

does it fly

in the face

of our culture.

Last question

and I'm going

to hustle

through it.

How do we do

this poor

in spirit

thing?

How does

that

what

do I need

to do

today

to do

that?

Well I hope

at this point

you're realizing

that being

poor in spirit

is not so much

what you do

it's acknowledging

who you are.

Your

real state

of being

before God.

It's seeing

yourself

as God

sees you

in desperate

need

of the riches

of his grace

on a

daily

basis.

let me

just

remind you

once again

of this

2nd

Corinthians

8-9

passage

for you

know the

grace of

our Lord

Jesus

Christ

that though

he was

rich

yet for

your sake

he became

poor

so that

you

by his

poverty

might

become

rich.

Jesus

who

is

sinless

took

on

sin

so that

you

who

are

sinful

can

become

rich

in the

grace

of

salvation.

It is

beautiful.

people

if you're

a non-Christian

in the

room

you're

very aware

of your

sin

you don't

like

talking

about

or thinking

about

what you've

done

in your

past

and you've

never declared

your spiritual

bankruptcy

to Jesus

himself

the risen

king

who's

alive

today

do you

know how

you enter

the kingdom?

You

tell him

Lord

Jesus

I am

incredibly

indebted

and worthy

of hell

have mercy

on me

a sinner

and that

catches his

eye

and at

that moment

if that

is meant

you are

justified

in his

sight

forgiven

of all

your

sin

and

declared

righteous

with the

righteousness

he achieved

on earth

you're

delivered

from the

domain

of darkness

and you're

transferred

into the

kingdom

of the

beloved

son

welcome

to the

kingdom

if you

haven't done

that

today's

the day

no need

to wait

you go

to the

risen

king

and you

just

tell him

you're

spiritually

bankrupt

hey

will you

pour out

your

riches

of grace

on me

and he'd

be like

yes

welcome

but what

happens if

you're a

Christian

what happens

if you

declared your

spiritual

bankruptcy

to Jesus

ten years

ago

you've

already been

welcomed

into his

kingdom

what do

you do

you declare

spiritual

bankruptcy

daily

that's what

you do

you

acknowledge

that in

and of

yourself

you are

powerless

to live

for Jesus

on any

given day

that's how

you start

your day

with a

declaration

of spiritual

bankruptcy

to the

king of

grace

who is

loaded

with the

riches

of grace

we are

in

continual

need

of God's

grace

hey if you're a

Christian in the room

are you comparing

yourself to other

people and thinking

yourself pretty cool

you're more

like the Pharisee

in Luke 18

than the tax

collector

in Luke 18

we want to be

like the tax

collector

in Luke 18

oh God

have mercy

on us

sinners

saved by grace

in constant

need of God's

grace

one of the

important things

you need to know

Christian

citizen of the

kingdom

you will never

outgrow this

you never

outgrow

the need

to be humble

we never

outgrow

our poverty

of spirit

it's who we

are

dependent

creatures

on our

creator

let me give

you two

suggestions

though

to help

pray

every morning

before the

day starts

a declaration

of spiritual

poverty

to your

king

just tell

him

start the

day that

way

Lord

I can't

start

without

acknowledging

my huge

need for

you

you're the

vine

I'm the

branch

apart from

you I

can do

nothing

and

learn

to depend

on his

word

tremble

at his

word

feast

on his

word

be given

strength

by his

word

on a

daily

basis

because

no one

can live

on bread

alone

but only

on the

word of

God

if you are

full of

yourself

being

poor in

spirit

and the

seven

following

beatitudes

they will

have no

interest to

you

you won't

want it

you can't

grow in

God's grace

without

seeing your

own spiritual

poverty

in

admitting

it

but when

you do

God

opposes

the

proud

but boy

does he

give grace

to the

humble

we looked

at four

questions

I've tried

to give you

four answers

whether you're

brand new

to the

kingdom

or have

been a

citizen

for years

we never

outgrow

our poverty

of spirit

it is the

thing

that we

all share

in common

a deep

deep

ongoing

need

for our

king

this is the

way of his

kingdom

this is

kingdom

normal

to be

poor in

spirit

it's what

catches

God's eye

one more

note

this poverty

of spirit

is going to

come across

weak

weak

to the

world

and you

know why

because it

is

we're not

full of

ourselves

no we

want to

be

full of

the grace

that's poured

out daily

by our

risen king

and so

we're glad

to declare

spiritual

poverty

day after

day

night after

night

we're glad

to live in

the reality

of

Jesus being

the controlling

center of

our lives

when

was the

last time

you

declared

to your

risen king

that you

are spiritual

pauper

let me

let me

pray

risen

Lord

Jesus

we gather

around

to you

in your

words

and we

receive

this

blessed are

the poor

in spirit

for yours

is the

kingdom

of heaven

oh God

we receive

that and say

thank you

thank you

for reminding

us of who

we are

we won't

buck that

we won't

arch underneath

that

but rather we

will humble

ourselves to

that

and confess

to you

once again

we need you

we need only

what you give

we ask

that once

again

you will

give us

the grace

today

to be

faithful to

you

to your name

we pray

amen