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Baptism guarantees that we will be configured to Christ. That’s not a metaphor. We become literally partakers of the divine nature. We are guaranteed faith, hope and charity. This is not automatic, but comes from our free choices that cooperate with the will of God by the grace of baptism renewed by confession. But we can, and should, demand that God give us these things. I wrote this prayer to demand the life I was was promised.
Prayer to Be Configured to Jesus Christ
Lord Jesus, let me begin anew today in the grace of my baptism. I wish to be the new creature you created me to be. Configure me to your image.
I believe in you; help my unbelief. I hope in you; help my lack of trust. I love you; give me a greater share in your love.
Let the Sign of the Cross I make declare my love for you:
My hand to my head to show how I love you with all my mind.
My hand to my chest to show how I love you with all my heart.
My hand from side to side to show how I love you with my whole soul and all my strength.
Configure my body to be a Temple of the Holy Spirit filled with his seven gifts:
Train my eyes to see all things with the gift of wisdom.
Fill my mind with holy insight by the gift of understanding.
Fill my heart with courage by the gift of fortitude.
May my mouth speak or be silent with the gift of knowledge.
May my feet follow your will with the gift of counsel.
May my knees bend in reverence with the gift of fear of the Lord.
May my folded hands bring consolation in prayer, which is the gift of piety.
Adopt me as the child of your loving Father who created me and takes pride in my life.
Adopt me as my brother and friend, Jesus, so I may lay down my life for you as you did for me.
Adopt me through the power of the Holy Spirit who prays in me and makes me a partaker in your life.
I renounce sin and self-seeking and every power that is opposed to you. Let every part of my body, every part of my spirit, and every part of my life be conformed to you. Amen.
This appeared at Aleteia.
Photo: midiman, Flickr.
Tom Hoopes, author of The Rosary of Saint John Paul II and The Fatima Family Handbook, is writer in residence at Benedictine College in Kansas and hosts The Extraordinary Story podcast about the life of Christ. A former reporter in the Washington, D.C., area, he served as press secretary of the U.S. House Ways & Means Committee Chairman and spent 10 years as executive editor of the National Catholic Register newspaper and Faith & Family magazine. His work frequently appears in Catholic publications such as Aleteia.org and the Register. He and his wife, April, have nine children and live in Atchison, Kansas.
