{"id":460,"date":"2018-03-05T10:08:56","date_gmt":"2018-03-05T10:08:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/?p=460"},"modified":"2018-09-04T17:01:41","modified_gmt":"2018-09-04T16:01:41","slug":"lord-make-me-an-instrument","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/lord-make-me-an-instrument\/","title":{"rendered":"Lord, make me an instrument!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I find the prayer of St Francis a deeply challenging prayer to read. Whether in a time of peace and prosperity, or in a period of conflict and hardship, it is not instinctive to be an \u201cinstrument of peace\u201d. Yet the word instrument does suggest that we become a channel for God\u2019s peace, that it flows into us from him and into the world from him. What can we do to curb our instinct to be defensive if we are shouted out, blamed or cursed? How can we pardon those who we have been hurt by, forgive those who have wounded us, or reconcile ourselves to those we blame? And what can we find that pushes back the doubts we all hold inside and ushers in faith, hope and love again?<\/p>\n<p>I believe that the answer is to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=John+15%3A4\">remain in Jesus<\/a>, the source of all this grace, love and truth. It is when we engage with the eternal, pray to God, lean upon him and praise with the angels that God the musician is engaged with us, his instruments. It is only through Jesus, with his spirit alive in us, that we can truly pray this prayer. Bitterness and fear are enemies of health, enemies of relationship and enemies of progress and peace. It is essential that this prayer is one we model at every level with our children who will take this mantle from us. It is crucial that each of us begins to become this instrument at \u201chome\u201d first, allowing the melodies of love and grace to surround our families, for it begins with the little things in life. Being a variety of instruments of God\u2019s peace will create symphonies of blessings in our communities and lead to radical change in the wider world. And the planet needs peacemakers whom at the deepest level give up their being to become instruments for the Holy Spirit to move. From small places extraordinary things can and do happen.<\/p>\n<p><em>Lord, make me us an instrument of your peace. Come transform our lives and the world around us with the beautiful sounds of heaven&#8230;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JZWM69FMnFU?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read the words to this inspiring prayer &amp; download the film in HD by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/FilmPages\/prayer_of_st_francis.html\">clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I find the prayer of St Francis a deeply challenging prayer to read. Whether in a time of peace and prosperity, or in a period of conflict and hardship, it is not instinctive to be an \u201cinstrument of peace\u201d. Yet the word instrument does suggest that we become a channel for God\u2019s peace, that it <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/lord-make-me-an-instrument\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[7,8,6],"tags":[11,15,44],"class_list":["post-460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","category-music","category-prayer","tag-film","tag-music","tag-peace"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Prayer_of_St_Francis_600.jpg?fit=600%2C337&ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7bKxI-7q","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":791,"url":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/prayer-for-peace-and-comfort\/","url_meta":{"origin":460,"position":0},"title":"Prayer for Peace and Comfort","date":"March 13, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Peace is so important to our hearts, our minds and our bodies, so coming before God will always bring more peace into our lives. It\u2019s important that we take time with our prayers, because God knows that we need to slow down, we need to still our minds, we need\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Prayer&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"A beautiful and peaceful lake","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/un_peaceful_lake.jpg?fit=600%2C371&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":757,"url":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/the-serenity-prayer-meaning\/","url_meta":{"origin":460,"position":1},"title":"The Serenity Prayer Meaning","date":"December 6, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"This week we\u2019re going to be looking at one of the most famous and inspiring prayers of the 20th Century \u2013 \u201cThe Serenity Prayer\u201d, and I\u2019m going to be exploring what the full version of this prayer means and how we can use it in our lives. Often known by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Prayer&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"The Serenity Prayer","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/UN_Serenity_Prayer_800.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":565,"url":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/harvest-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":460,"position":2},"title":"Harvest Prayer","date":"September 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Our lives go through many seasons, and there are times when it is natural and easy to be thankful at harvest time. So, if you are in a relaxed place and able to drink in the goodness of God and his provision, it is a joyful and special time to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Films&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Harvest_Prayer_600.jpg?fit=600%2C338&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":515,"url":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/short-evening-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":460,"position":3},"title":"Short Evening Prayer","date":"August 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Sometimes life can feel exhausting by the time evening arrives! With the fading light and a jumble of experiences to sift through from the day we can often feel fatigued, tired, even overwhelmed. It can be easy to block out all these thoughts with a good book or a T.V.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Films&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Woman walking through a field","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Evening_Prayer_Blog.jpg?fit=600%2C337&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":496,"url":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/early-morning-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":460,"position":4},"title":"Early Morning Prayer","date":"June 7, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Worship is intrinsic to our wellbeing. It creates a sense of peace in us as we recognise that all the love and beauty in the world has its source in God. When we wonder at the intricate life and order within nature it allows us to relax and know that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Films&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"man in the sea","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Early_Morning_Prayer_Sea_800.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":778,"url":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/prayer-for-protection-at-work\/","url_meta":{"origin":460,"position":5},"title":"Prayer for Protection at Work","date":"February 28, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"When we work, we serve God. No matter what our occupation we contribute daily to the ongoing work of His Spirit. It can be daunting when we feel the stress of responsibility, the fatigue of physical tiredness or the fear of the unknown and yet God longs to journey with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Prayer&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"walking to work","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/prayer_for_work_protection_600_un.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":533,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460\/revisions\/533"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayerscapes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}