A Prayer While on Vacation

Gracious God,
may I see the wonders of creation
this day.

May the simple gifts
that are so often buried
under the activities of my life
be revealed in glory.

May my heart that
is so often distracted
be clear and still.

May my soul,
hungry for peace,
be fed by your grace.

When I close my eyes in sleep
this night,
may I be filled with gratitude
for the blessing of this leisurely day.

I ask this for the sake of your love. Amen.

(from http://www.explorefaith.org/prayer/essays/vacationpray.html)

A Vacation Prayer

Gracious God, it’s hard to shift from a life of busy work to a period of quiet relaxation. Help me let go of my need to produce and of my worry over what will happen at work while I am away.

As I give myself to the relaxation of mind and body, let the activities of my work life silently recede into the background. Let me open my soul to you as if it were an empty canvas waiting for the creative touch of the artist’s hand.

I ask this for the sake of your love. Amen.

(from http://www.explorefaith.org/prayer/essays/vacationpray.html)

A Prayer As I Leave for Vacation

Gracious God,

thank you that our vacation is finally here!

Thank you for a week to spend with my wife
and some of it with my children and grandchildren.

Give us all safe travel to and from our destination.
Steer us away from dangers, traffic jams, and speeding tickets.
Deliver us from car problems and health problems.
Give the grandkids grace to travel well,
sleep well,
and eat well.
Give their parents a respite from work and weariness.

May gas, grocery, and restaurant prices not be too high,
crowds not be too large,
temperatures not too oppressive,
and rain not too frequent.

Help us all to enjoy each other,
the lovely surroundings,
and the time to read, rest, and play.

Go with us.
Keep us aware of you,
and of your kindness and generosity,
in Jesus' name, amen.

I Don't Want to Fall Away from You

Isaiah 12 Prayer

God, you are my salvation;
I will trust and not be afraid.
You, Lord God Adonai, are my strength and my song;
you have become my salvation.
With joy I draw water
from the wells of salvation,
for you, God, are my salvation.
I drink from your fulness,
from your freshness,
from your replenishing depths.
Amen.

The Deeper Joy Behind

In Thee lies hid my unknown heart,
   In Thee my perfect mind;
In all my joys, my Lord, Thou art
   The deeper joy behind.

(a prayer by George MacDonald, from Poetical Works, Vol. 1)

Streams and Showers

Lord God Adonai,

please send to me today,

showers of blessing

and streams of refreshing,

in Jesus' name, amen.

Savior, Like a Shepherd

Attentive

Holy Spirit, please make me less attentive
to my own desires
and more attentive
to yours,
in Jesus' name, amen.

Author of My Prayers

Abba, teach me to pray.
Save me from "making" prayers.
Help me to know how to pray,
what to pray,
for whom to pray.
Prompt my praying.
Guide my praying.
Be the author of my prayers,
from beginning to end, amen.

Ten Times More

I love Thy skies, Thy sunny mists,
   Thy fields, Thy mountains hoar,
Thy wind that bloweth where it lists--
   Thy will, I love it more.

I love Thy hidden truth to seek
   All round, in sea, on shore;
The arts whereby like gods we speak--
   Thy will to me is more.

I love Thy men and women, Lord,
   The children round Thy door;
Calm thoughts that inward strength afford--
   Thy will than these is more.

But when Thy will my life doth hold
   Thine to the very core,
The world, which that same will doth mould,
   I love, then, ten times more!

(a prayer by George MacDonald, from Poetical Works, Vol. 1)

I Rise

I rise this day,
in the love of the Father.
I rise this day,
with the mind of Christ.
I rise this day,
in the Spirit's power.
I rise this day,
in the blessings of God.

(from the DesertPastor blog)

Lavish Summer

Thank you, God, that

"There is no price set on the lavish summer,

And June may be had by the poorest comer."

(from "The Vision of Sir Launfal" by James Russell Lowell)

Say But the Word

Lord, have mercy.

In light of yesterday's news from Aubrey that Calleigh's lungs can no longer be considered free of complications, I kneel before you, Father, and ask you to heal.

Heal. Heal. Come to her assistance; make haste to help her. Only you can save, Lord; only you can deliver. Only you can make her whole. Say but the word, Lord, and my granddaughter will be healed. Say the word. Say the word, Lord. Please. Heal her and make her whole in body as well as in spirit. Clear her lungs. Re-create her pancreas. Expel all anomalies and dysfunctions in her body. Invade her body with health. Cover her with your hand. Make her and keep her whole, for her sake, for your sake, and the sake of your name, in Jesus’ name, amen.

A Father's Day Prayer

Abba, Father,
thank you for being such a father to me:
patient, wise, loving, constant, and strong.

Thank you for my father,
for the many years you've given him on this earth,
for the example he's shown me
and the things he's taught me.

Thank you for the kind of father
my son and son-in-law are
to my grandchildren:
patient, wise, loving, constant, and strong.

Let this Father's Day be a blessing to you
and to the fathers in my life and family,
in Jesus' name, amen.

Loosen In Me the Hold of Visible Things

Lord, loosen in me the hold of visible things;
   Help me to walk by faith and not by sight;
I would, through thickest veils and coverings,
   See into the chambers of the living light.

Lord, in the land of things that swell and seem,
   Help me to walk by the other light supreme,
Which shows Thy facts behind man's vaguely hinting dream.

(a prayer by George MacDonald, from Diary of an Old Soul)

A Prayer of Columba of Iona

Be thou a bright flame
before me,

Be thou a guiding star
above me,

Be thou a smooth path
below me,

Be thou a kindly shepherd
behind me,

Today...tonight...and forever.
Amen.

A Prayer by Nadia Bolz Weber

Lord of compassion I pray,

As you did in Nain, enter our city gates. Enter into the somber roads down which our hearses drive and the glad streets where children run. Enter the parks where the junkies shoot up and the yuppies listen to jazz. Walk uninvited into starter mansions and public housing and dorms and cheap motel rooms on Colfax that charge by the hour. Stroll into the cool-air freezer section where the pregnant women escape the heat and the bus stop benches where the weary wait. Step into the space between the city worker who wrote me a parking ticket and my mis-guided anger. Enter our city gates, Lord of Compassion, as you did the city of Nain. And bless.

Bless the things we think are dead. Bless that which we have already begun to carry out of town to bury. Bless our rocky marriages and our college age kids who smoke too much pot. Bless the person at work who we love to hate. Bless the young adult who wonders if they are too young to really be an alcoholic and the 6o year old woman who’s had too much work done. Bless public schools lunch ladies and the guy who stole my kid’s bike. Bless the one who has no one. Bless what we call insignificant and which you call magnificent. Bless it all, Lord of Compassion, and love what only you can love: the ugly, and abandoned and unsanitary in the wash of humanity, upon which you have nothing but a gleaming compassion.

Lord of Compassion who saw the Widow of Nain, we thank you for seeing us. Seeing our loneliness and our bravery. Seeing the times we can’t say what we need to. Seeing the ones who suffer in silence. Seeing the moments when we are more than we thought we could be. Seeing what no one else can or will. We praise you for seeing as beautiful what we call ugly and that in your compassion you wipe away all tears.

Reach out once again and wipe our tears and raise us, Lord of compassion. Touch us as you did the wood on which the widow’s son lay dead and speak those same words to us: "Young man arise. Little girl, get up." To those who think they are not worthy to be loved and medicate themselves with food and booze and shopping, say “rise up.” To us who have been hurt by those who say they follow you, say “rise up.” To the proud at heart who think they are not dead, say “rise up.” To the ones who care for the least of these and who feel too burnt out to keep going, say “rise up.” To we who are holding onto resentments like our own personal security blankets say, “rise up.” To those who hide their failings behind good works, say “rise up.” To the unloved child who has no idea that one day they will change the world, say “rise up." To the one who has given up, say “rise up.”

And when again, Lord of Compassion, you have raised the dead...when again you have made whole that which is broken, when again you have ripped out my heart of stone and replaced it with a heart of flesh, when again you have reached into the graves we dig ourselves and loved us back to life, help us, like the young man of Nain, to sit up and speak. Give us the words that are not empty praise or platitudes of piety, but give us strong words, as real as the very soil from which you raised us.

Give us the words to speak of you. And then, as you did the son to his mother, give us one to another, that when we speak others may hear and know that you are without question and without end the Lord of all Compassion. AMEN.

A Prayer for Those in the Path of the Wildfires

Gracious Lord God,
please have mercy on those in the path of the Black Forest fire.

Please help those who are fighting to contain the fire,
and keep them safe.

Please preserve homes and property,
businesses and buildings,
but most of all, of course,
please deliver precious lives from harm,
in Jesus' name, amen.

If the Lion In Us Pray

My prayers, my God, flow from what I am not;
   I think thy answers make me what I am,
Like weary waves thought follows upon thought,
   But the still depth beneath is all thine own,
And there thou mov'st in paths to us unknown.
   Out of strange strife thy peace is strangely wrought;
If the lion in us pray--thou answerest the lamb.

(a prayer by George MacDonald, from Diary of an Old Soul, May 26)

A Short Prayer of George MacDonald

You are such a Father,
that you take our sins from us
and throw them behind your back.

For a New Work of Love

O God, I have tasted Thy 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 Thee;
I long to be filled with longing;
I thirst to be made more thirsty still.
Show me Thy glory, I pray, so that I may know Thee indeed.
Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Amen.

(a prayer of A. W. Tozer)

Make My Worship Pleasing

Father God, lead me back to the heart of worship. Let my daily worship and my weekly worship with others reorient me and place me in the right posture in relation to your throne, in relation to your rule over all. Make my worship pleasing to you; make it also an impetus for repentance and reconciliation with others.

Holy Spirit, teach me as I read and study your Word. Lead me into all truth, as Jesus promised.

And, Lord Jesus, you who are worthy to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise, revive and restore me through the worship I offer. Let my worship bring joy to you. Let it bring heaven to me. Amen.

(a prayer from the book, How to Survive the End of the World, p. 57)

The Call

Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life:

Such a Way, as gives us breath;

Such a Truth, as ends all strife;

And such a Life, as killeth death.

Come, my Light, my Feast, my Strength:

Such a Light, as shows a feast;

Such a Feast, as mends in length;

Such a Strength, as makes his guest.

Come, my Joy, my Love, my Heart:

Such a Joy, as none can move;

Such a Love, as none can part;

Such a Heart, as joys in love.

(a prayer by George Herbert)

Amazing Love

God, your love is amazing. Thank you for showing to me....the many facets of your love for me. You knew me and loved me before I was even born. You loved me from the moment of my first breath. You loved me in my sin. You loved me and gave your Son for me. You loved me in Christ. You loved me in all my waywardness. You loved me in all my clumsy attempts to please you. You loved me like a rock. You loved me steadfastly. You loved me like a lion, calling me back to your side. You love me still. You will love me ever. Thank you for your unfathomable love, from before the foundation of the world until now. Teach me to love you more truly. In Jesus’ name, amen.

(from Falling in Love with God, by Bob Hostetler, p. 145)

The Thanks I Need to Give

I need to thank you, Lord,
not for your sake, but for mine.

I thank you.
Thank you for your constant and current mercy on me.
By your mercy alone do I live another day,
loved, forgiven, delivered, whole.
Thank you for sleep, and for waking from sleep.
Thank you for the rain today.
Thank you for freedom from pain and discomfort.
Thank you for the love of my life, my bride,
the sweetest and loveliest woman to walk the earth.
Thank you for my children, my daughter and my son;
thank you that they still love me despite my many mistakes,
both early in their lives and late.
Thank you for my friends--many, faithful, and strong.
Thank you for the community I live in,
so clean, convenient, comfortable.
Thank you for dry clothes, clean clothes.
Thank you for shelter, and not just any shelter,
but a clean, lovely, comfortable home.
Thank you that, though troubles come to me and mine
from time to time,
they come no worse than they do
and for no longer than they do.
Thank you for days off--far and few between,
but the more valuable because of that.
Thank you for music.
Thank you for coffee.
Thank you for books.
Thank you for my senses, every one still intact.
Thank you for prayer.
Thank you for hearing me.
Thank you for answering.
Thank you for building me up in my most holy faith,
gently at times and sternly at times. I know I need both.
For these and all your gifts,
I give you thanks, in Jesus' name, amen.

A Prayer Before Speaking

No speaker is saved by the quality of his material;
none succeeds by the multitude of his gifts.
Relying on man's approval is a vain hope, a stupid goal;
despite all its allure it cannot save.
My hope is on your unfailing love, Lord;
I hope for your deliverance.

(based on Psalm 33:16-17)

A Prayer from Hosea 7

Beautiful Lord God, you have always wanted only to love and heal me, but my waywardness has often prevented you, I know. Oh, Lord, save me from being like an oven that never cools, even when empty; deliver me from habits and patterns that would stoke the fires of unfaithfulness in my heart. Save me from being half baked and halfhearted; help me to renew and fulfill a wholehearted covenant with you. Save me from being like a silly bird, flitting here and there, looking for satis- faction from things that will never satisfy; help me to seek and find my soul’s satisfaction in you, and only you. Save me from being like a warped bow; straighten my heart and mind and life until it is all plumb and pointed ever and always to you. Turn me away from everything that would turn me away from you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

(from Falling in Love with God, by Bob Hostetler, p. 112)

A Thirty-Sixth Anniversary Prayer

O God, what thanks can I possibly render to you
for my bride,
my wife,
my thirty-six years of marriage,
and thirty-nine years
with the lovely Robin in my life?

Thank you for yet another year of life together.
Thank you for her faithful,
giving,
loving,
kind,
passionate,
sweet,
constant heart.

Thank you for the happiness we have known together;
the sorrows we have faced together;
the children we have raised
and the grandchildren we have been given.

Thank you for our home,
our health,
our laughter,
our hopes and dreams,
our unfinished plans,
and our small accomplishments.

Thank you that she still laughs at (some of) my jokes.
Thank you that she grows more beautiful every day.
Thank you for all her perfections,
and all my improvements.

Spare us another year to walk together,
and grant that for us it may be true
that the best is yet to be,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

To Suck Out All the Marrow of Life

Lord God,
grant that I may live deliberately,
confront the essential facts of life,
learn all it has to teach, and not,
when I come to die, discover that I had not lived.

Help me to live deep
and suck out all the marrow of life,
to put to rout all that is not life,
to cut a broad swath and shave close,
to drive life into a corner,
and know it by experience,
and show by my life that I did not hastily conclude
that it is the chief end of man here
to "glorify God and enjoy him forever."

Amen.

(based on lines from Walden, chapter two, by Henry David Thoreau)

A Prayer of David Brainerd

Oh, that I might be a flaming fire in the service of the Lord. Here I am, Lord, send me; send me to the ends of the earth!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

As You Wish

O Lord, you know what's good and bad,
what's better and worse,
what's best and worst.

May my prayer be as you wish it to be.

(a prayer of Thomas a Kempis)