Gospel of Mark #3: The Nature of Servanthood — Stephen Kaung

This is Monday evening, July the 3rd, 1972, in Richmond, Virginia, ministry being given through Brother Stephen Kong.

Lord, we do thank thee for bringing us together here tonight. We do desire to meet thee, to see thee, and to hear thee. Deliver us from just having a meeting, hearing someone speak. O Lord, we want to see thee.

Do manifest thyself to us at this moment through thy word, Lord, that we may not just touch the letter, but we may touch thee behind the letter. We cannot be the same if we have met thee. So we just commit ourselves to thee for tonight, trusting thee to come into our midst and reveal thyself to every one of us.

Thou knowest each one of us. Lord, thou knowest what we need. Thou art the one whom we really need. So Lord, give thyself to us afresh in a new and living way, and we are ready to give thee all the praises and the glory that is thine.

Mark 10:45 and the Servant of the Lord

In the name of our Lord Jesus, amen. We have the whole book of the gospel according to Mark before us tonight, so I will not use the whole time reading from chapter 1, verse 1 through the last chapter, chapter 16 of Mark.

But instead, I would just like to read one verse which is the key, actually, to the gospel according to Mark. And I believe you know what verse I'm thinking of. Mark, chapter 10, verse 45. Mark, chapter 10, verse 45.

This is the key verse of the gospel according to Mark. For also the Son of Man did not come to be ministered to, but to minister, and gave his life a ransom for many. Now, if you don't like the word minister, you can put the word serve.

Probably people are more used to the word serve than to minister. And we can read it. For also the Son of Man did not come to be served to, but to serve, and gave his life a ransom for many. This morning we share together on the nature of servanthood.

Mark presents Christ to us as the servant of the Lord, the perfect servant, by whom God's whole purpose is realized. And in him we see the nature of true servanthood. How can we be servants to God? How can we be true servants of God?

We have to have in us this very nature that characterizes Christ as a servant. So we mention very briefly this morning two points. Just two points. One is the principle of servanthood is the principle of son servant.

It is the son who is the servant. How can we serve God? How will God accept our service to him? Only when we serve God with the life of God. And it is only when we serve God with the Son's life we are true servants.

How often we serve God with our natural life, with our human natural wisdom, and our carnal, mind and fleshly. We cannot serve God in that way. God will only accept the service of his Son. If we serve him in his Son's life, then we become true servants of God.

Presenting Ourselves as Living Sacrifices

Then the second point is, as our Lord Jesus was baptized before he began his public service, in life manner we have to present this body, these bodies of ours that have been redeemed as living sacrifice.

And it's only out of this living sacrifice God will entrust us. And this you'll find in Romans chapter 12. Now tonight we would like to go into this matter of the character of the servant. When we read the Gospel according to Mark, probably our whole attention will be arrested by the words and deeds of our Lord Jesus.

As a matter of fact, the Gospel according to Mark is very different in one sense. He does more than he speaks. You'll find in the record of Mark concerning the life of our Lord Jesus, he does not record much of the speaking of our Lord Jesus.

Rather you'll find he records his doings a lot. A good servant works more than he talks. Suppose you have a servant who is talking from morning to night. He never does his job. So here you'll find the characteristics of the Gospel according to Mark.

There is not much recordings of the speaking of our Lord. And yet it is filled with the doings. But whatever it may be, I think as we read the Gospel according to Mark, we will be fascinated, arrested by what the Lord does and also of course by what he talks, what he speaks.

But brothers and sisters, is this all that you find in the Gospel according to Mark? Are you just occupied with the words and the deeds of our Lord Jesus? Or do you, through these words and deeds, you begin to see the Lord?

These words and deeds are expressions of what he is. In other words, the character of the person shows you the type of work he does. The man is more important than his work. If we see only his words and deeds and we fail to see him, that is his character, his inward character, you do not have the explanation.

You only see what is visible, but you do not know the source, all his work. And I do believe the Holy Spirit in giving us this record of the life of our Lord Jesus means that we may see Christ, his character, that we may be transformed and conformed to that character more than we just want to see what he has done.

Now, not that what he does and speaks are unimportant, they are. But there is more to it. God wants us to get behind his words and deeds and to get to know that person. Now, unless you can see Christ in this way, unless you can read the gospel in this way, you'll miss it.

So, brothers and sisters, when Mark presents Christ to us as the servant of the Lord, it is more than just giving us a continuous record of what he does. Thank God for all that he has done. But it's more than that.

He is trying to show us the character that is behind all his words. That is the reason why he calls to himself disciples. When the Lord was on earth, he not only did things, he not only said words, but he called people to be with him as his disciples.

And these disciples were to stay with him. These disciples were to go around with him, not just to learn the technique of work, but more to learn the life, brothers and sisters. What God is interested in is more in the worker or in the servant than in the service of the work.

Because the kind of servant will determine the kind. You know, our ancestors is always on the service, is always on the work. And because of that, we think if we can master the technique, the art, art of it, then we will be successful in serving God.

But brothers and sisters, God's thought is very different. His attention is more upon the servant. That the servant may be so transformed, conformed, and out of that will be service which is pleasing.

When we study the gospel according to Mark, it is just not enough. Just to know what the Lord does or what, we have to see the character of Christ as a servant. And in seeing Christ, his character, we are to be characterized.

And I believe this is the purpose of the gospel. Now, of course, the building of a character takes time. There is much in our lives that has to be said. There is much that has to be gradually developed and built up in life.

There will be lots of adjustments. And we have to go through the school of discipline a great deal. In order that a different kind of character, which we do not have naturally, may be built up in us. And only when we have such features of such character, we are able to serve God in a way that will be pleasing.

So brothers and sisters, that is the reason why the Lord took some, called some to him. To be with him, not just to learn the technique, but to learn him. And after they have learned him, then when they go out to do the work, that work will be like his.

So this is actually what we wish to see tonight. Now, when you go through the gospel according to Mark, you will see many features which characterize Christ as a servant. We do not have the time to go through all these features, but tonight we would like to fellowship just on a few.

Just as a starting, you know, as a start. And as you read the gospel according to Mark, I hope that more and more the character of Christ may appear before you. First of all, to be a servant, one character is very basic and necessary.

Diligence in Doing the Master's Will

And that is diligence. When you go through the gospel according to Mark, you know there is one word that is repeated again and again and again. Throughout the gospel according to Mark, you'll find the word immediately.

Or straightway. Immediately. Straightway. All together. I don't know if I counted right 37 times. But anyway, you'll find when such word is used so much, the Holy Spirit has something to say to us. As a servant, one quality of the good servant is that he is diligent.

He is very diligent. Diligently doing the masters. And that is just the thing that characterizes. You know, God never uses a lazy person. Have you ever found in the Bible that he calls a lazy person to be his servant?

On the contrary, you'll find when God calls for a servant, usually you'll find that servant is busily occupied. Now even in the world, if you have something, you want something to be done. You do not go to a person who has done nothing, who is doing nothing.

You go to a person who is quite busy. Why? Because you know he will do it. A lazy person will never do anything. It is the diligence that does the work. God never calls a lazy person. There must be that character of diligence in that person.

Well, probably you would say, how some people may be born more diligent than other people. Or some people may be naturally lazy. Now brothers and sisters, the point is here. To be diligent does not mean to be busy.

You may be very busy, but you may not be diligent. To be diligent is a character that we have to learn. Naturally, no one of us is diligent. Because we may be very diligent in a sense, to do what we want to do.

But when you come to God's will, no one is diligent. We try to avoid it, we try to evade it, we try to escape it, and we try to push it to tomorrow, Mariana, tomorrow. When you come to spiritual things, you begin to realize that we are not naturally diligent.

No one is. The Lord has to do something in our lives to make us diligent. So you find it is not just a matter of being busy. It is not a matter of doing what we like to do. Diligence is a spiritual character.

God has done something in our lives to make us very diligent. That is to say, whenever there is God's will, we do not delay it, we do not drag along, but we quickly. Look at the life of our Lord Jesus, how diligent he is.

In the parable, our Lord Jesus gives concerning the servants. You know, one man is leaving the country, so he gave his sustenance to three servants. One is given five talents, the second is given two talents, and the third is given one talent.

Now a talent is a lot. A talent is not a little. So even the one with one talent actually is given a great deal. But of course, in comparison with the two talents and the five talents, it's little, you know, but the little itself is big.

But anyway, you'll find these servants are entrusted with the Master's sustenance. And the Master said, trade with it, be occupied with it. The two faithful servants, wise and faithful servants. They trade with the talents, and the one with five earn another five, the one with two earn another two.

And when the Lord come back and take the account, the Lord says, good. Good and faithful servants, well done. They are wise because they know the Master's heart. They are faithful because they are diligent.

But the one with one talent, he is not only thoughtful, lazy, but he is foolish, for he does not know the Master, and he does not do the Master. And because he is thoughtful and foolish, you'll find when the Master comes back, even that which was given to them is taken.

Now brothers and sisters, the Lord has given us much. Even the little we have is much. Never look down upon the grace and the gift that God has given to you. You know, some people, they are quite, say, well, who am I?

What do I have? I have only one talent, so why bother? Remember, that one talent is a lot. We need to be wise, in knowing the Master's heart. And we need to be diligent in doing. To be diligent and to wait upon the Lord are not contradictory.

You know, sometimes we think in order to be diligent, then you have to rush here and there and and getting, even get it. When you are diligent, you'll find our Lord Jesus, after he has done a day's work, he rests.

For the next morning, before dawn, he goes to the desert. When his disciples come and say, now a lot of people are coming here. They are waiting for you. The Lord says, because I'm called. In other words, you'll find his work is not governed by me.

His work is governed by the Father. No, today our problem is, our work is governed by me. Because there is this need, because there is that need, therefore, well, thank God, we are willing to give ourselves to this need.

But the result is, we are doing lots of things. But what are the things that God wants? There is no time for waiting before the Lord. We think that waiting upon the Lord is a waste. He waits upon God.

He knows the Father's will. And he is diligent in doing that. That is something that we have to learn. You know, either we are so occupied doing things, or we are just lazy and do nothing. We go to extremes, you know.

But as God's servant, there is a place for waiting upon. If we do not know God's will, don't do it. Don't rush ahead. Because wait upon the Lord until you know the Lord's will. But the moment you know the Lord's will, don't be diligent in caring.

And this is exactly what you'll find in the Gospel according to. It is true that the Lord travels here and there. It is true that he does many things. But remember, he is never, he is never busy to the point that he has no time to wait upon the Father.

You know, you have heard lots of people, God's servants, will say, well, I'm so busy, I have no time to pray. I'm so busy serving the Lord, I have no time to wait upon the Lord. And you know, the result is many nervous systems.

They need that, that characterizes that servant. So brothers and sisters, in reading the life of Christ according to Mark, you'll find the Lord. He may be busily occupied, but he is never without time to wait upon the Lord.

Compassion in the Servant's Work

Once he knows the Father's will, he never hesitates. He never postpones. He carries it out. So this is the first feature of the character. The Lord is full of. It is not just doing a work. You may do a work, but if your heart is not involved, it is cold, it is dead.

The work may be done, but before God, there is very little work. But here you'll find our Lord Jesus is compassionate. That characterizes him as the servant of the Lord. For instance, a letter. You know, when this leper comes to the Lord Jesus, he is desperate.

Because according to the custom of that time, according to law, a leper is not allowed to come into the city. And when people should approach a leper, that leper should cry out, unclean, unclean, don't come near.

If a leper should dare to come into the crowd and be discovered, he will be stoned to death. But this leper is desperate. No one can heal him. No one can clean him. And when he hears of the Lord Jesus, that is his only hope.

He believes in the power of the Lord Jesus, but he is not sure whether the Lord is willing to do it or not. Because he has never known the Lord Jesus. He may think that the Lord is able to do it, but he would do it to people who are more worthy.

He is not worthy. But anyway, he is desperate. When he comes to the Lord, you know, he put his life in his hand, as it were. Because if the people should discover it first, he would be stoned to death.

He comes to the Lord and says, Lord, if you will, you can come. I believe in your power, but I'm not sure whether you are willing or not. I cannot force your hand. If you think I'm unworthy, then I don't deserve it.

But if you will, if you are compassionate towards me, I believe you can do it. So you must remember, this leper comes to the Lord. On the one hand, he is brave because he is desperate. But on the other hand, he comes to the Lord trembling.

He is not sure whether the Lord is willing. The Lord can very easily say a word and he will be cleansed. For the Lord knows the trembling heart of the leper. The Lord knows that he is fearful, lest the Lord is not willing.

Therefore, the Lord stretches out. He can say a word and it is done. That's all is required. But why is it the Lord stretches his hand and touches the leper? And you know, in touching the leper, if he is not able to heal the leper, he himself.

The Lord braves the danger of being defiled by touching the leper. But thank God, of course, he is not defiled. Instead, he cleanses the leper. But in this very action, you can see the compassion. Brothers and sisters, very often when we are entrusted with a work, we can do it technically, correct?

We can do it mechanically. But where is the compassion? And if there is no compassion in the sight of God, there is very little spiritual life. Another case, the Lord is in a house. And many people just crowd around him.

Even the door is filled with people. And you remember four friends. They bring a man sick of pausing. But they find the door is locked. The place is just packed. There is no way to get near to the Lord.

So they go to the roof. You know, in the Orient, in the land of Judea, their way of building is quite different from ours. You can go to the roof from outside. There is a stairway that will go from outside to the roof.

And usually when a person wants to seek for privacy, that you may pray or you may be alone, you go to the roof in order to have some privacy. Now these men, they take the man sick of pausing to the roof.

Then they break open the roof and they lower the bed on which the man is sick of pausing. And they lower it just before the Lord Jesus. Now remember, this is very unconventional. The Lord is using another person's house.

And when the roof is broken through, now who is to pay the repair? But instead of getting angry and say, now you, you just disturb our peace. When the Lord sees this, He says, great is their faith. Your sins are forgiven.

Oh, every time you'll find the Lord does something. He does not do it with His hand. He does it. That's the servant, a servant. He never gives lip service. It is a service. How often? We may be doing some service, but we just do it with our hands.

Our heart is not there. You know, a real servant of the Lord has a heart full of compassion. But you know, compassion is more than an emotion. We may be emotionally stirred, but compassion is a character.

You know the difference between an emotional stirring and a character? An emotional stirring is you may be touched by some environment and get stirred emotionally and do something. But a character is deep seated.

The Lord is compassionate. That is His character. Not just an emotional outburst. A man may be very emotional. And usually when a person is emotional, he is impulsive and he is blind. But the Lord Jesus is compassionate.

Yet He is not impulsive nor blind. One day, the Lord comes to the border, Caesarea, Caesarea Philippi, and a Cydonian woman comes to the Lord. He cries to the Lord and says, Son of David, have mercy on me.

Because my child is attacked by the devil. Have mercy on me. Heal my child. Son of David. The Lord does not answer. He is quite insistent. Have mercy on me, Son of David. Have mercy on me. But the Lord does not answer.

Even the disciples of our Lord get disturbed. They do not understand why the Lord does not answer that woman. That does not look like the Lord Himself. So they come to the Lord and say, Have you heard her?

Either you do something or you send her away. You just not, just cannot let her cry out to you as if you have not heard. Now that does not look like it. What is it? Now if the Lord's compassion is just an emotion, then certainly He should respond.

But His compassion is a character. He knows what He is doing. He is not blind. That woman, in crying to the Lord, saying, Son of David, she has limited the Lord. She has bound the hands. Because as the Son of David, He is sent to the house of Israel.

And this woman, He cannot do it. He just cannot do it. His hands are bound. Bound by the ignorance of this woman. So He said, You cannot give the bread. You give the bread only to the children. I'm sent to the Lord by saying that.

Actually, He leaves a crack for that woman to take up. And that woman immediately says, Yes, Lord. See? Yes, Lord. Not Son of David. Yes, Lord. The bread is for the children. But I'm a little dog. I'm a pet dog.

I can at least have some crumbs under the table. I still have a claim on you. And the Lord said, Great. Your child is healed. Brothers and sisters, you'll find He is not only compassionate, but He is very clear in what He does.

He is not just emotionally bound up. And He will just do anything whenever His emotion is involved. That's the character. Brothers and sisters, that is the reason why His work is not governed just by me.

It's governed by the Father's will. His heart is warm, but His mind is very cold. And that qualifies you as a servant. A servant who is cold, not only in his mind, but also in his heart. But neither can a servant who is warm in heart, but also hot in mind can serve.

Gentleness Without Compromising Truth

So the second point is, the servant of the Lord is compassionate. Number three. As the servant of the Lord is. As we find in Mark chapter 10, verse 45. The Son of Man does not come to be ministered to, but to minister.

And to give His life a ransom. The servant of the Lord has no self-interest. He is not seeking for personal gain. He has no ambition of his own. He is willing to give everything, even his life. That's a servant.

He does not withhold anything, but he is willing to give. Our Lord Jesus, as the servant of God, is marked by gentleness. Oh, how gentle. How do we know He is so gentle? Look at the way He deals with children, you know.

The Lord is busily occupied with His great work. And then the parents bring the children to the Lord. And the disciples push these parents away. Our Lord is too busy for the children. He has no time for the children.

You better take the children away. But the Lord says, suffer the little children to come to me. For theirs is the kingdom of God. So the Lord, even though He is busily occupied with more important work, as people would say, you'll find He set aside everything.

He takes the children in His arms and He blesses them. What gentleness. Another occasion. And this you'll find only in Mark. In Noahel. After the resurrection of our Lord Jesus, He asked a woman to bring a message to His disciples, that He will meet them in Galilee.

But in the gospel according to Mark, He said, And. Now that is the reason why some people think Mark's gospel is according to Peter. Because this is the only place where you'll find and. Peter denied the Lord three times.

Peter repented. But even so, Peter was, he was literally living in fear. He had offended the Lord so much. If the Lord would ever, if the Lord would ever remember. So the Lord said nothing. But do not misunderstand.

As if gentleness is weakness. You know, sometimes we think of gentleness as weakness. When it comes to the letter of truth, the Lord never compromises. You remember one day He enters into the synagogue.

And there is a man with a withered hand. And these worshippers, I don't know whether the Pharisees plant that man there or not. I don't know. But they are all watching whether the Lord will do something to the withered hand.

Man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. The Lord knows it. And He asked the question, What will you do on the Sabbath day? Good thing or bad thing? Nobody answered. And you remember the Bible says the Lord is angry.

He looks angrily at the congregation. And He asked that man to stand up. Stretch out your arms. And the withered hand does not move. He is strong, brave, bold when it comes to the matter of truth. And you know how He denounces the Pharisees and the scribes?

The Pharisees and the scribes, they are the elite of society. The ruling class of His time. If you offend them, then you are doomed. But the Lord denounces them. He has not compromised. And when it comes to the truth, you read the gospel according to Mark.

And you'll find the Lord never tries to take away the sharpness. You know, sometimes a person naturally can be gentle. But when a person is naturally gentle, he becomes, he round up everything, you know.

There is no more sharpness. Therefore, this gentleness has to come from Christ. The sharpness is still there. Whenever the Lord speaks, it cuts. It is not blunt. It is not round up. Brothers and sisters, a gentleness.

And yet there is no round up. Number five. You'll find the Lord is single-minded. You know, a servant cannot serve two masters. You either love the one or despise the other. You either listen to the one or you don't listen to the other.

You cannot try to serve two masters. It's impossible. And here you'll find our Lord Jesus is single-minded. So all His life, He has to do the Father's will. That's all. He has set His faith towards Jerusalem.

Even though He knows what is waiting for Him. He does not look. He tries to tell His disciples that He will go to Jerusalem and there He will be killed. But on the third day, He will rise again. He knows what waits, what is waiting for Him.

But He is single-minded. Every time He discloses that He will be killed in Jerusalem. You know, every time His disciples react in a very different way. The first time is found in Mark chapter 8. You know, after Peter confessed the Lord Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

Then the Lord begins to open up His heart to His disciples and said, Now, remember, I will go to Jerusalem. I will be persecuted. I will be killed. But on the third day, I will rise again. But when He discloses that to His disciples, Peter immediately takes hold of Him.

I don't know whether Peter shakes Him or not. And said, Now, come to your sense. Be mindful of yourself. Have mercy, pity yourself. Don't do such a thing. You don't need to do that. You can, you can get the world.

You can take the throne of David without going to the cross. You don't need that. And the Lord turned around and said, Satan, get me behind. Because you're not mindful of the things of God. You're only mindful of the second occasion.

In chapter 9, when they pass through Galilee, again, the Lord begins to tell them that He will go to Jerusalem. He will be killed. And on the third day, He will be raised from the dead. And you know what happens?

When the Lord is talking to them about His cross, you know what the disciples are discussing among themselves? They are discussing among themselves who is the greatest. What a contradiction. So the Lord has to take a child and say, Now, put a child in their midst.

And He said, The greatest in the kingdom of heaven of God is this child. Unless you'll be converted and be like a little child, you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. And the third occasion, in chapter 10, when the Lord says He is going to Jerusalem, He will be killed.

You know what happens? John and James, they come to the Lord with their mother. And said, Now, when you sit on the throne, will you please let one son and the other son sit on the right? And can you drink the cup that I drink?

Can you be baptized with the baptism that I'm going to be baptized? Oh, yes, they say yes. Without knowing what they are. The Lord said, Indeed, you must. But to sit on my right and my left is not for me to give.

It is for the Father to give. If anyone wants to come after me, he has to deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. In the world, those who rule over law have authority over others, but not among you.

He who is the greatest among you, the bond slaves of me. For the Son of Man does not come to be minister to you, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. See, three times. Whenever the Lord discloses something about the cross, the reaction of the disciple is just opposite.

They are seeking the throne by passing it. But the Lord said, No, our Lord is single minded. And brothers and sisters, if we want to be servants of the Lord, we must be characterized by single. If your eye is single, your whole body, if your eyes are wicked, that is double sight.

Then your whole body is dark. And the Lord said, If that's the case, how dark will be that dark? Brothers and sisters, we need to be single minded. And because of that, we have to see the way to the throne.

You cannot. And then finally, I mentioned one more thing. And that is the servant of the Lord is confident not in himself. You know, our trouble is we are confident in ourselves. We put our trust in our flesh.

I can do it. With the Lord Jesus, he is a servant full of confidence, not in himself. Therefore, the Lord said, Have faith in God. If you have faith in God, you can remove the mountain to the sea. Whatever you ask, if you believe that you'll receive, you will receive.

Oh, brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus has full confidence. And that is the reason why he does not retreat. Withdraw or flee. But he can go straight forward to finish the work that the Father had entrusted him.

Confident all the time that God will take. Brothers and sisters, we cannot serve God if we have confidence. Neither can we serve God if we do not have confidence. Because serving God, you have to go through.

And if you have no confidence in God, but our Lord Jesus, to the very end, you'll find how confident he is of God. So by just briefly, you know, going through these occasions, these incidents, you will find at the back of these incidents, you'll find the manifestation of a certain character.

The Holy Spirit's Work of Transformation

And this character is the character of, and it is the will of God, that we who are called to serve God must be characterized by these. Again, I say, we do not have them. These character has to be built up gradually in us.

The Holy Spirit is the one who is to build that character in us. How is it? He has to put Christ before us. As in 2 Corinthians 3 says, we behold the glory of the Lord. We have to see him first. If we do not see him, the Holy Spirit does not have any ground to work.

We have to see Christ as he is. His diligence, his compassion, single-mindedness, his confidence in the Father. We have to see him. Now, that is what he is. Now, as we behold him, and with our heart open to him, then the Holy Spirit is able to transform us accordingly and gloriously.

In the process of transformation, there is much that has to be cast aside. There is much adjustment. We have to go through that which belongs to us, that which is his, and gradually. But thank God, the Holy Spirit who dwells in us has a very special job.

You know, the Holy Spirit dwells in each one of us. He has a very special job to do. And what is his job? To reveal Christ. Not just to reveal him, that we may see him, but by revealing him, we may desire him.

And in desiring him, we may allow the Holy Spirit to do the work in us. Now, that is the work of the Holy Spirit. He is doing that work either through revelation or through disciples throughout the body.

But he is building that up. Brothers and sisters, God is more interested in building the servant character in us than he is interested. Because you're busy doing things for him, therefore you are a servant of God.

Unless we allow him to build the servant character in us. Brothers and sisters, whatever we can. But when God can get that servant character, then whatever our hand touches is glorified. So I do believe this is the reason why Mark presents Christ to us in this gospel.

Not just that we may copy his work. We may imitate his word, that we may be transformed and confront his image. Then out of that comes God's word. And if we can read the gospel according to Mark in this way, I do believe we touch what the Holy Spirit wants us to learn.

Prayer for Christlike Service

We see the servant character in you. We pray that we may open ourselves to thee, to allow thy spirit to work in us. That whenever, whatever we touch, it may be thy work. It may be a work, oh deliver us, just from doing things, saying things.