"Dearest Lord, teach me to be generous;
Teach me to serve thee as thou deservest;
To give and not to count the cost,
To fight and not to seek for rest,
To labour and not to seek reward,
Save that of knowing that I do thy will."
St. Ignatius Of Loyola
When it seems as if our lives are not going as planned, the key is to get our eyes off ourselves. This prayer is perfect for us to ask the Lord to put away our innate selfish desires for fortune, comfort, or gain in favor of extraordinary generosity.
The better pursuit is glorying in Christ, come what may, even through poverty, exhaustion, or persecution. The generosity of which we seek is for the Lord. For Christ, we give of our money, our stamina, our strength, that our entire life might be spent generously for the glory of God. This is a prayer of humility, of dying to self while exalting Christ. The reward for we who believe, therefore, lies in doing the will of God.
