My Father, you are never away from me … never forget me … never fail to surround me with your love. Where can I go from your Spirit? No where—except in the doubts and spiritual blindness that make a cavern of my own mind. Into those darknesses, bring the brightness of your presence now. Be the light that blazes in every dark doubt within me! - Augustine
Behold, Lord, an empty vessel that needs to be filled. My Lord, fill it. I am weak in the faith; strengthen me. I am cold in love; warm me and make me fervent, that my love may go out to my neighbor. I do not have a strong and firm faith; at times I doubt and am unable to trust you altogether. O Lord, help me. Strengthen my faith and trust in you. In you I have sealed the treasure of all I have. I am poor; you are rich and came to be merciful to the poor. I am a sinner; you are upright. With me, there is an abundance of sin; in you is the fullness of righteousness. Therefore I will remain with you, of whom I can receive, but to whom I may not give. Amen.
- A prayer of Martin Luther
My Father: Who will govern my life today? Me – or You? Help me to choose wisely, Moment by moment. Amen. - Augustine
Lord, if you withdraw your hand, there is no grace. If you cease to guide us, we have no wisdom. If you no longer defend us, we have no courage. If you do not strengthen us, our chastity is vulnerable. If you do not keep a holy watch over us, our watchfulness cannot protect us. By ourselves we sink, we perish; when you are with us, we are uplifted, we live. We are shaky, you make us firm. We are lukewarm, you inflame us.
- - Thomas a Kempis (1380-1471), a German born monk who lived in Holland; author of The Imitation of Christ
Gracious God, whose mercy is higher than the heavens, wider than our wanderings, and deeper than all our sin: Receive again your bewildered and broken people. Forgive our folly and our excess, our coldness to human sorrow, our passion for things of the moment, Change our hearts and turn all our desires to your way, that we may love what you love and do what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord. - From the Reformed Church in America
Father, I want to know You, but my coward heart fears to give up
its toys. I cannot part with them without inward bleeding, and I
do not try to hide from You the terror of the parting. I come
trembling, but I do come. Please root from my heart all those
things which I have cherished so long and which have become
a very part of my living self, so that You may enter and dwell
they're without a rival. Then shalt You make the place of Your
feet glorious. Then shall my heart have no need of the sun to
shine in it, for You will be the light of it, and there shall be no
night there. In Jesus' Name. Amen. - - A. W. Tozer
You, Lord, are forgiving and good abounding in love to all who call to you. Hear my prayer, Lord; listen to my cry for mercy. When I am in distress, I call to you, because you answer me. Among the gods there is none like you, Lord; no deeds can compare with yours. All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord; they will bring glory to your name. For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God. - From Psalm 86:5-1-11, NIV
Make me know Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day long. - From Psalm 25:4-5
Come, O Thou God of grace,
Dwell in this holy place,
Even now descend!
This temple, reared to Thee,
O may it ever be
Filled with Thy majesty,
Till time shall end!
- William Evans, 1886
Lord, because you have made me, I owe you the whole of my
love; because you have redeemed me, I owe you the whole of
myself; because you have promised so much, I owe you my
whole being. Moreover, I owe you as much more love than
myself as you are greater than I, for whom you gave yourself
and to whom you promised yourself. I pray you, Lord, make
me taste by love what I taste by knowledge; let me know by
love what I know by understanding. I owe you more than my
whole self, but I have no more, and by myself I cannot render
the whole of it to you. Draw me to you, Lord, in the fullness
of your love. I am wholly yours by creation; make me all
yours, too, in love. - Anselm (1033-1109)
O God, seeing as there is in Christ Jesus an infinite fullness
of all that we can want or desire, may we all receive from
him, grace upon grace; grace to pardon our sins, and subdue
our iniquities; to justify our persons and to sanctify our souls;
and to complete that holy change, that renewal of our hearts,
which will enable us to be transformed into the blessed
image in which you created us. O make us all acceptable to be
partakers of the inheritance of your saints in light. Amen.
- a prayer of John Wesley
Gracious Father, we pray for Your holy and universal Church. Fill it with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in any thing it is amiss, reform it. Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake of Jesus Christ Your Son our Savior. Amen.
- William Laud, appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, 1633
Look upon us, O Lord, and let all the darkness of our souls vanish before the beams of thy brightness. Fill us with holy love, and open to us the treasures of thy wisdom. All our desire is known unto thee, therefore perfect what thou hast begun, and what thy Spirit has awakened us to ask in prayer. We seek thy face, turn thy face unto us and show us thy glory. Then shall our longing be satisfied, and our peace shall be perfect.. - Augustine, 354 - 430
O God, I have tasted Your goodness, and it has both satisfied
me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of
my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O
God, the Triune God, I want to want You; I long to be filled with
longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Your
glory, I pray, that so I may know You indeed. Begin in mercy a
new work of love within me. Say to my soul, "Rise up, my love,
my fair one, and come away." Then give me grace to rise and
follow You up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so
long. In Jesus' Name, Amen. - - A. W. Tozer
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” - Psalm 19:14, NIV
Lord, teach me to listen. The times are noisy and my ears are weary with the thousand raucous sounds which continuously assault them. Give me the spirit of the boy Samuel when he said to You, "Speak, for Your servant hears." Let me hear You speaking in my heart. Let me get used to the sound of Your Voice, that its tones may be familiar when the sounds of earth die away and the only sound will be the music of Your speaking Voice. Amen. O Lord, I have heard a good word inviting me to look away to You and be satisfied. My heart longs to respond, but sin has clouded my vision till I see You but dimly. Be pleased to cleanse me in Your own precious blood, and make me inwardly pure, so that I may with unveiled eyes gaze upon You all the days of my earthly pilgrimage. Then shall I be prepared to behold You in full splendor in the day when You shall appear to be glorified in Your saints and admired in all them that believe. Amen. - A. W. Tozer
O Lord Jesus Christ, open the eyes of my heart, that I may hear Your word and understand and do Your will, for I am a sojourner upon the earth. Hide not Your commandments from me, but open my eyes, that I may perceive the wonders of Your law. Speak unto me the hidden and secret things of Your wisdom. On You do I set my hope, O my God, that You shall enlighten my mind and understanding with the light of Your knowledge, not only to cherish those things which are written, but to do them… For You are the enlightenment of those who lie in darkness, and from You comes every good deed and every gift. Amen. - John Chrysostom (347-407)
O God and Father, I repent of my sinful preoccupation with visible things. The world has been too much with me. You have been here and I knew it not. I have been blind to Your Presence. Open my eyes that I may behold You in and around me. For Christ's sake, Amen. - A. W. Tozer
O God, quicken to life every power within me, that I may lay hold on eternal things. Open my eyes that I may see; give me acute perception; enable me to taste You and know that You are good. Make heaven more to me than any earthly thing has ever been. Amen. - A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God
Spirit of Truth, direct our attention to the life of Jesus so that we might see what you would have us be….We know we cannot be like Jesus except as Jesus was unlike us, being your Son. Make us cherish that unlikeness that we may grow into the likeness made possible by Jesus’ resurrection. Amen (Stanley Hauerwas)
O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. - The Book of Common Prayer
Slow me down, Lord. Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind. Steady my hurried pace with a vision of the eternal reach of time. Give me, amidst the confusion of my day, the calmness of the everlasting hills. - Wilfred Peterson, date unknown
We beseech thee, Master, to be our helper and protector. Save the afflicted among us; have mercy on the lowly; raise up the fallen; appear to the needy; heal the ungodly; restore the wanderers of thy people; feed the hungry; ransom our prisoners; raise up the sick; comfort the faint-hearted.
- Clement of Rome, 1st Century
O God Almighty, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Your only begotten Son, give me a body unstained, a pure heart, a watchful mind, and an upright understanding, and the presence of Your Holy Spirit, that I may obtain and ever hold fast to an unshaken faith in Your Truth, through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord; through whom be glory to You in the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. AMEN. - The Clementine Liturgy
My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will. My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done. - Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane
God, who sees all things, and who is the Ruler of all spirits and the Lord of all flesh, who chose our Lord Jesus Christ and us through Him to be a peculiar people - grant to every soul that calls upon Your glorious and holy Name, faith, peace, patience, long-suffering, self-control, purity, and sobriety, to the well-pleasing of His Name, through our High Priest and Protector, Jesus Christ, by whom be to Him glory, and majesty, and power, and honor, both now and forevermore. AMEN.
- Clement of Rome
Lord, be with us this day,
Within us to purify us;
Above us to draw us up;
Beneath us to sustain us;
Before us to lead us;
Behind us to restrain us;
Around us to protect us.
- Patrick, c389-461
Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent, for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.
(Episcopal Book of Common Prayer)
Lent: Day 2
Look upon us, O Lord, and let all the darkness of our souls vanish before the beams of thy brightness. Fill us with holy love, and open to us the treasures of thy wisdom. All our desire is known unto thee, therefore perfect what thou hast begun, and what thy Spirit has awakened us to ask in prayer. We seek thy face, turn thy face unto us and show us thy glory. Then shall our longing be satisfied, and our peace shall be perfect. - Augustine, 354 - 430
Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.
Give us today the food we need,
and forgive us our sins,
as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
And don’t let us yield to temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one.
- Based on Matthew 6:9-13, New Living Translation
Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the first day in Lent. As a part of my journey this season I am seeking to pray the prayers of others and to make them mine. I invite you to the journey.
Followers of the Messiah ought to pray this prayer everyday of their lives, and particularly in the days of the Lent season. The ancient king prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way” (Psalm 139:23-24).
In these broken, divided, war-filled days, maybe we just need to pray. Maybe we need to humble ourselves before God, and ask for mercy and grace and guidance and peace.
Each day in this Lenten season I will offer daily prayers for those who might have interest. The prayers come from Scripture, from Church history, from hymns, from Prayer Books, and from devotional writers. I pass them along to you even as they will be my prayers each day in Lent and on all of the Sundays in the Lenten season.
God bless you as you journey to the cross and on to Easter.
Rick
