COVENANT WITH GOD

Training Program Commitment

God our Father, to whom all hearts should be open, all desires are known and from whom no secrets are hid: Guide the thoughts of my heart by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, That I may perfectly love, and glorify thee.

Fellow Children of God, the Christian way of life to which I am committed is provided me in order to assist me to graduate from His training program and to join Him in heaven. Upon this life I have entered, having been admitted into that training program of which our Brother and Lord Jesus Christ is our guide and teacher.

On my side the training program is God's promise to fulfill in and with me the promises declared in Jesus Christ. That this promise still stands I am shure, for I have known God's guidance and grace in my life, day by day.

On the other side I stand pledged to live no more as a Child of Earth, but to live for God who loved me and provided Jesus Christ; as my perfect model. Who called me to serve in His love that the purposes of his Kingdom be fulfilled.

Let me then, remembering the guidance of God and the hope of my graduation and, considering all that this covenant means, may I commit my self anew to God.

Let me adore the God of love who created me; who every moment preserves and sustains me; who has loved me with an everlasting love, and given me the light of the knowledge of divine glory due me at my graduation.

I acknowledge thee to be my Lord and God. I acknowledge that I am your Servant to your Children.

Let me glory in the grace of our brother Jesus Christ; who, though he was God in heaven, yet for my sake became man; who was tempted in all points like as I am; yet who was obedient to God, even the death of the cross; rose from the death; who provided me a training program, the way, the truth, if only I will accept it.

Let me rejoice in the guidance of the Holy Spirit, My God and Giver of a truly fulfilling life, by whom I am born into the family of God, and made a member of the body of Christ; whose wisdom teaches me; whose power enables me.

O God, my Father, who has been gracious to me through all the years of my life. I give thee thanks for thy loving kindness which hath filled my daily needs and brought me to this time and place.

Thou hast given me life and reason, and set me in a world which is full of thy glory. Thou has comforted me with Christian brothers and sisters, and ministered to me through my Christian family.

Thou hast set in my heart a hunger for thee, and given me thy peace. Thou hast redeemed me and called me to a high calling as your Child. Thou hast given me a place in thy heavenly family and here on earth within thy church.

In darkness thou wilt be my light, in adversity and temptation a rock of strength,, in my joys the very spirit of joy, in my labors the all-sufficient reward.

Thou hast remembered me when I have forgotten thee, followed me even when I have fled from thee, met me with forgiveness when I turned back to thee. For all thy long patience and the abundance of thy grace; I praise thee, O Lord.

Let me now examine myself before God, humbly confessing my sins and watching my heart, lest by self-deceit I shut myself out from God's will and presence.

O God, who hast set forth this training program for me in order to provide instruction by thy beloved Son: I confess with shame my slowness to learn from Him, my reluctance to follow Him. Thou hast spoken and called, and I have not given heed; thy beauty hath shown forth, and I have been blind; thou hast stretched out thy hands to me through others in need, and I have passed by. I have taken great benefits with little thanks; I have been unworthy of thy changeless love.

Forgive me where in I have wasted my time or misused my gifts. Forgive me wherein I have excused my own wrongdoing or evaded my responsibility. Forgive me that I have been unwilling to overcome my earthly preferences with your guidance, that I have drawn back from my cross of complete commitment.

Forgive me that so little of thy love hath reached others through me, and that I have borne so lightly wrongs and sufferings that were not my own. Forgive me wherein I have cherished the things that divide me from others, and wherein I have made it hard for them to live with me, and wherein I have been thoughtless in my judgments, hasty in condemnation, grudging in forgiveness.

Have mercy upon me,, and forgive me, O Lord; if I have made no ventures in friendship if I have kept in my heart a grievance against another, if I have not sought reconciliation, if I have been eager for the punishment of wrongdoers and slow to seek their redemption.

This is the message I have received and proclaim to you God that I accept you, God of all, as my only God; rejecting all other gods in my life. I also proclaim that you, my God, are my light, in whom, there is no darkness at all. If I walk in the light, as God's child, I have communion with Him and His Son through the Holy Eucharist.

And now, let me bind myself with a TOTAL commitment to my training program and covenant with my God; and take the yoke of servant hood given by Christ upon me. This taking on of Christ's yoke and training program upon me means that I have completely accepted what ever it will take to graduate. The power to complete these challenges is given to me in Christ's grace, who strengthens me.

Therefore let me make this covenant with my God; my whole purpose for existence. Being thus committed, let me now, in sincere dependence on God's grace and trusting in the training program provided me, yield myself anew to God.

O Lord God, who has called me through Christ to be a partaker in this gracious covenant: I take upon my self with joy the yoke of obedience, and engage myself, for love of thee, to seek and do thy perfect will. I am no longer in control of my life, but you my God are.

I am no longer my own, but thine. Put me to what life thou wilt; rank me with whom thou wilt; provide me with what suffering thou wilt; let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low for thee; Let me be full, or let me be empty; Let me have all things, or let me have nothing; I freely and completely yield all things to your control and ownership.

And now, O Glorious and blessed God, Lord of all, Thou art my God, Father and Master, and I am thy child and servant. SO BE IT. This covenant which I have made on earth, let it be witnessed in heaven and on earth,, here by my signature and by the signature of a fellow Child of God.

Mine: _________________________

Other: _________________________