Heavenly Father,

The kings of the earth once took the royal mantles of the conquered and attached them to their own train. As they entered a temple, the display impressed their subjects, vaunted the king’s glory and honoured the deities who were the king’s patrons.

But the train of Your robe, Father, is so vast and majestic it fills the entire Temple. It is You who are the Victor, You who are to be honoured as King of kings, You to be exalted above all. Father, all mantles come from You as a grace-gift, an inheritance that You distribute to Your children. We ask that You take back the mantles that have been stolen from us. We ask that You take up the spoils of victory that have been attached to the train of the prince of this world, or to those allied with the powers of wickedness—mantles that originally came from You. And having retrieved and reclaimed these mantles, we ask that You come, as the prophet Malachi declared, like launderer’s soap to cleanse and purify, to renew them with colour and song and fragrance so that they glorify You and You only. We ask that the mantles that have come down the faithlines to us—be they Elijah’s or Joseph’s, Reuben’s or David’s, Moses’ or Jethro’s, or any other ancestor in our faithline—be refreshed and recharged.

May Your Holy Spirit inspire us to know what needs to be mended as part of the mantle’s legacy and what needs to be finished. May we be co-workers with You, as 1 Corinthians 3:9 attests, and under the supervision of Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, may we advance Your kingdom through the service of the mantle You have favoured us with. May we rely fully on the atoning power of Jesus to complete the work You have given us and also to rightly mentor those You want us to pass our mantles to in the fullness of time.

Lord, may the mantles we have been given by You never cause us to think of ourselves as superior to others, nor give us the sense that the calling it summons us to is so important that we spend our time ‘doing for You’ rather than ‘being with You.’ Build in us a deep knowledge that the prayer shawl of Jesus our mediator is the greatest mantle, not our own.

Thank You for trusting us with such precious treasures. We ask for Your protection to ensure we honour Your gifts, but never so greatly that they displace You as the Giver. May our mantles always sing praise to Your Name. We ask for Your kiss to armour us, and we ask to be wrapped in light, as You are. May You always be our refuge, not the mantles You have given us.

Holy, holy, holy are You, Lord God Almighty.

In the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Amen.