Patrick's Prayer

For Hunger for Wholeness and Restoration

(a prayer from the book, Embracing Your Freedom: A Personal Experience of God's Heart for Justice, by Susie Larson)

A Prayer of Peter

Lord, you know all things;

You know I love you.

(a prayer from John 21:17)

Before, Behind, Beside

For Hope In Them

My prayer today for my kids and my grandkids, from the "31 Ways to Pray for Your Kids" app for iPhone and iPad.

More of You

A Prayer on Shakespeare's Birthday

Release me from my bands
With the help of your good hands:
Gentle breath of yours my sails
Must fill, or else my project fails.

(lines from The Tempest, Act 5, Epilogue, by William Shakespeare)

Fashion Me

My God, here I am,

my heart devoted to you.

Fashion me according to your heart.

(a prayer by Brother Lawrence; photo via http://www.freeimages.com/)

Deliver Me From Myself

Lord, when I think that my heart is overflowing with love and realize in a moment’s honesty that it is only myself that I love in the loved one,

Deliver me from myself.

Lord, when I think that I have given all that I have to give and realize in a moment’s honesty that it is I who am the recipient,

Deliver me from myself.

Lord, when I have convinced myself that I am poor and realize in a moment’s honesty that I am rich in pride and envy,

Deliver me from myself.

And, Lord, when the Kingdom of Heaven merges deceptively with the kingdoms of this world,

Let nothing satisfy me but God.

Amen.

(a prayer of Mother Teresa)

This Day

My God, I give you this day.

I offer You, now, all of the good
that I shall do, and I promise to accept,
for love of You,
all of the difficulty that I shall meet.

Help me to conduct myself during this day
in a manner pleasing to you.

Amen.

(another great prayer from the Daily Prayer blog)

If I Must Choose

Tax Prayer

On this day of internal revenue
some of us are paid up,
some of us owe,
some of us await a refund,
some of us have no income to tax.

But all of us are taxed,
by war,
by violence,
by anxiety,
by deathliness.

And Caesar never gives any deep tax relief.

We render to Caesar . . .
to some it feels like a grab,
to some it is clearly a war tax,
to some – some few –
it is a way to contribute to the common good.

In any case we are haunted
by what we render to Caesar,
by what we might render to you,
by the way we invest our wealth and our lives,
when what you ask is an “easy yoke”:
to do justice
to love mercy
to walk humbly with you.

Give us courage for your easy burden, so to live untaxed lives. Amen.

(a prayer by Walter Brueggemann, from his book, Prayers for a Privileged People, Abingdon, 2008)

For Joy

My prayer today for my kids and my grandkids, from the "31 Ways to Pray for Your Kids" app for iPhone and iPad.

Beyond the End and the Beginning

For the Unemployed

Lord God Adonai, my Abba, Father, please have mercy on those people--millions of them in this country alone, and many among my friends, neighbors, family, and tribe--who are unemployed or soon to become unemployed. Please provide work and income for them. Please defy the "economy" by your great mercy and guide them quickly to honest work that meets their needs. In the meantime, please supply patience and loving trust in you as well as strength, creativity, inspiration, guidance, and energy for all those who must search and struggle to figure out where to find work and how to pay bills, in Jesus' name, Amen.

(photo via everystockphoto.com)

Bless To Me

Bless to me, O God,
Each thing mine eye sees;
Bless to me, O God,
Each sound mine ear hears;
Bless to me, O God,
Each odor that goes to my nostrils;
Bless to me, O God,
Each taste that goes to my lips,
Each note that goes to my song,
Each ray that guides my way,
Each thing I pursue,
Each lure that tempts my will,
The zeal that seeks my living soul,
The Three that seek my heart,
The zeal that seeks my living soul,
The Three that seek my heart.

(A prayer from the Carmina Gadelica, III, p. 33, a compendium of Celtic Christian prayers and songs)

To Mind My Business

Plant Fresh Flowers in My Garden

Come, O Lord my God;
my soul invites thee earnestly,
and waits for thee eagerly.

Come to me, O Jesus, my well beloved,
and plant fresh flowers in my garden,
such as I see blooming
in such perfection
in thy matchless character!

Come, O my Father,
who art the Husbandman,
and deal with me in thy tenderness and prudence!

Come, O Holy Spirit,
and bedew my whole nature,
as the herbs are now moistened with the evening dews.

Oh, that you would speak to me!
Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.
Oh, that you would walk with me;
I am ready to give up my whole heart and mind to you.

I am only asking what you delight to give.

(a prayer of Charles H. Spurgeon, slightly revised)

Twin Virtues

My prayer today for my kids and my grandkids, from the "31 Ways to Pray for Your Kids" app for iPhone and iPad.

Never Failed Me Yet

I've Still Got You

Remove the Little Branch of My Will

Holy Father, remove from my soul, I pray, my own will and graft on it yours so that your will and not mine is always done.

Just as when one cuts a branch from a tree and grafts on a better one,
its fruit is also much better, remove from this tree, oh Father, the little branch of my will and graft on it your holy will; then I will be certain that it will bear beautiful fruit.

Voice Like Many Waters

I praise you, Lord, for your voice:
the voice like many waters,
like a mighty waterfall;
the still, small voice;
the voice in the flaming bush;
the voice Samuel heard;
the voice like thunder at Jesus' baptism;
the voice of compassion that said,
"Do you want to get well?";
the voice that calmed the storm;
the voice that Mary Magdalene heard at the empty tomb;
the voice that said,
"your sins are forgiven,"
the voice that said,
"neither do I condemn thee,"
the voice that speaks in every page
of your marvelous word,
and the voice of your Spirit who says,
"This is the way; walk in it."

Please attune my ears--
physical AND spiritual--
to hear your voice,
whenever and wherever you speak,
in Jesus' name, amen.

(artwork: "Still Small Voice" by Barbara Taylor Hall; see here for more information)

In This Earthen Vessel

(from Dr. Mark Rutland's book, 21 Seconds to Change Your World, p. 69)

Prayer for This Day/Month/Year

A Prayer on Opening Day

Thank you, God, for baseball:
for outfields of green
and the crack of the ball on a wooden bat.
For pitchers with eccentric windups,
for stolen bases
and diving catches.
For double plays
and double steals,
bunts and brushbacks,
squeeze plays and home runs.
For "cold beer here!" and ballpark franks.
For the seventh inning stretch.
For day games and night games.
For OBPs and ERAs,
pickoff plays and headfirst slides,
for opening days and hope springing eternal.
Amen.

Let My Prayer Arise

(English: Let my prayer arise in Thy sight as incense, and let the lifting up of my hands be an evening sacrifice; from Psalm 141:2)

Get Us There

Father, grant me and the lovely Robin
safe and successful travel today.
Make smooth paths
(and flight schedules) for our feet.
Let us make our connection in Denver.
Protect us from coach cabin infections.
See us to our destination, to our loved ones,
in a timely, safe, and healthy manner,
in Jesus' name, amen.

(photo via everystockphoto.com)

April Fools Prayer

A fool though I am, Lord,
let me not be like the fool
whose thoughts are wicked,
who flirts with temptation,
who "goes along to get along."
Make me instead a man
who loves your Word
and dwells in your presence.
Make me like a tree,
planted by a flowing stream,
bearing fruit season after season,
never withering,
always prospering,
in Jesus' name, amen.

(based on Psalm 1:1-3)