All my hopes are in you.
All my joy is in you.
All my strength is in you.
All my comfort is in you.
All my energy,
blessing,
integrity,
righteousness,
peace,
wisdom,
security,
encouragement,
freedom,
all,
all,
in you.
All My Springs
All my hopes are in you.
All my joy is in you.
All my strength is in you.
All my comfort is in you.
All my energy,
blessing,
integrity,
righteousness,
peace,
wisdom,
security,
encouragement,
freedom,
all,
all,
in you.
A Patient, Victorious Mind
A patient, a victorious mind,
That life and all things casts behind,
Springs forth obedient to Thy call;
A heart that no desire can move,
But still to adore, believe, and love,
Give me, my Lord, my Life, my All.
(a prayer by P. Gerhard,
photo by Ashley Joseph via unsplash.com)
Happy Life
in all godliness and gravity,
in all purity and nobleness,
in cheerfulness, in health, in good report,
in contentment, in safety, in freedom, in tranquillity,
a happy death, a deathless happiness.
(a prayer of Lancelot Andrewes, from Lancelot Andrewes and His Private Devotions)
Without Veneer
please let me learn
to live without veneer.
(from a line by M. Craig Barnes in his book,
The Pastor as Minor Poet, p. 38).
This Day, O Lord
to serve thee devoutly,
and the world busily.
May we do our work wisely,
go to our meat appetitely,
sit thereat discreetly,
arise temperately,
please our friends duly,
go to our beds merrily,
and sleep surely;
for the joy of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
(a medieval prayer, author unknown)
The Anger that This Day will Bring Forth
the anger that this day will bring forth.
Teach us to really care,
so that our anger is not occasioned
by trifles to do with our comfort and status,
but by what outrages your heart of love.
(a prayer of Richard Harries, from The Complete Book of Christian Prayer, p. 230)
Like a Stream of Water
Abba, make my heart like a stream of water in your hand; turn it wherever you will.
To Do What Leads to Peace
(my prayer today for my kids and my grandkids, from the "31 Ways to Pray for Your Kids" app for iPhone and iPad).
I Need Some Laughter, Lord
I have had enough
of sad saints
and sour religion.
I have had enough
of sin spotting
and grace doubting.
I need some laughter, Lord,
the kind you planted in Sarah.
But, please may I not have to wait
until I am ninety
and pregnant.
(Church of Scotland Prayer, as found in Celtic Daily Prayer: Book Two; HT Leonard Sweet)
Quiet Mind
I come to thee with quiet mind,
Thyself to know, thy will to find;
In Jesus' steps my steps must be,
I follow him to follow thee.
(from a hymn by Catherine Baird)
(from a hymn by Catherine Baird)
Down the Unknown Corridor
(a prayer by Frederick Buechner, from his book, The Hungering Dark)
Be All to All
Hope of the homeless,
The Strength of those tossed with tempests,
The Haven of those who sail:
Be all to all.
Be within us, to strengthen us;
without us, to keep us;
above us, to inspire us;
beneath us, to uphold us;
before us, to direct us;
behind us , to propel us;
around us, to sustain us.
Be all to all in present need.
(a prayer of Lancelot Andrewes, from Lancelot Andrewes and His Private Devotions; photo via pixabay.com)
Disfigured
With my lustful desires I have formed within myself the deformity of the passions and disfigured the beauty of my mind.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
I have discolored with the passions the first beauty of the image, O Savior. But seek me, as once Thou hast sought the lost coin, and find me.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Like the Harlot I cry to Thee: I have sinned, I alone have sinned against Thee. Accept my tears also as sweet ointment, O Savior.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Like David, I have fallen into lust and I am covered with filth; but wash me clean, O Savior, by my tears.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Like the Publican I cry to Thee: Be merciful, O Savior, be merciful to me. For no child of Adam has ever sinned against Thee as I have sinned.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
I have no tears, no repentance, no compunction; but as God do Thou Thyself, O Savior, bestow them on me.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Lord, Lord, at the Last Day shut not Thy door against me; but open it to me, for I repent before Thee.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
O Lover of mankind, who desirest that all men shall be saved, in Thy goodness call me back and accept me in repentance.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Give ear to the groaning of my soul, and accept the tears that fall from mine eyes; O Lord, save me.
(excerpt from The Great Canon of Repentance, Ode Two, by St. Andrew, Bishop of Crete; image via pixabay.com)
Teach Me to Live By Prayer
Teach me to live by prayer
as well as by providence,
for myself, soul, body, children, family, church;
Give me a heart frameable to thy will;
so might I live in prayer,
and hounour thee,
being kept from evil, known and unknown.
Help me to see the sin that accompanies all I do,
and the good I can distil from everything.
Let me know that the work of prayer is to bring
my will to thine,
and that without this it is folly to pray;
When I try to bring thy will to mine it is
to command Christ,
to be above him, and wiser than he:
this is my sin and pride.
I can only succeed when I pray
according to thy precept and promise,
and to be done with as it pleases thee,
according to thy sovereign will.
When thou commandest me to pray
for pardon, peace, brokenness,
it is because thou wilt give me the thing promised,
for thy glory,
as well as for my good.
Help me not only to desire small things
but with holy boldness to desire great things
for thy people, for myself,
that they and I might live to show thy glory.
Teach me
that it is wisdom for me to pray for all I have,
out of love, willingly, not of necessity;
that I may come to thee at any time,
to lay open my needs acceptably to thee;
that my great sin lies in my not keeping
the savour of thy ways;
that the remembrance of this truth is one way
to the sense of thy presence;
that there is no wrath like the wrath of being
governed by my own lusts for my own ends.
(from The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan prayers, edited by Arthur Bennett; photo by Abel Marquez via Unsplash.com)