Those who attend our services for any length of time will recognize that as the prayer I saw at the beginning of my sermons.   I can't claim to have come up with it myself.   Indeed, most of what I say I probably need to credit someone else for saying it first.  This prayer is one that was said by Rev. Powell Osteen of the North Carolina Conference.  He was serving Resurrection United Methodist Church between Durham and Chapel HIll and was instrumental in some what went on with my spiritually during the last two years of seminary.

Resurrection UMC was an interesting church in North Carolina, or anywhere, in that it was multi-racial.  It's not like it was half African-American, but there were several persons and also some mixed race couples.  That's not something you'd see at every church in the early 90's or today.  Julie and I had the good fortune of visiting the church the first Sunday they were in a brand new facility.  It was an exciting Sunday and our participation in the celebration made it easier to join in events over the next couple of years.  We worked concessions at concerts for missions -- getting to see the Grateful Dead and Elton John among others. We attended church dinners.  And it was here that, as I was neck deep in religious work for school, Powell constructively criticized my lack of participation in the education program of their church.

For the two years we attended there, Powell began his sermons with "Thy will, O Lord.  Nothing more.  Nothing less.  Nothing else.  Thy will."  And, after that being a part of my life, it seemed like a humble and appropriate way to begin my own sermons.