Help Me Keep My Eyes on You
You are the incarnation of Divine Love,
you are the expression of God's infinite compassion,
you are the visible manifestation of the Father's holiness.
You are beauty, goodness, gentless,
forgiveness, and mercy.
In you all can be found.
Outside of you nothing can be found.
Why should I look elsewhere or go elsewhere?
You have the words of eternal life,
you are food and drink,
you are the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
You are the light that shines in the darkness,
the lamp on the lamp stand,
the house on the hilltop.
You are the perfect Icon of God.
In and through you I can see the Heavenly Father,
and with you I can find my way to him.
O Holy One, Beautiful One, Glorious One,
be my Lord, my Savior, my Redeemer, my Guide,
my Consoler, my Comforter, my Hope, my Joy, and my Peace.
To you I want to give all that I am.
Let me be generous, not stingy or hesitant.
Let me give you all--
all I have, think, do and feel.
It is yours, O Lord.
Please accept it and make it fully your own.
Amen.
(a prayer of Henri Nouwen, from A Cry for Mercy)
For the Beauty of Small, Homely Things
Sunlight through a jar of beach-plum jelly...
A rainbow in soapsuds in dishwater...
An eggyolk in a blue bowl...
White ruffled curtains sifting moonlight...
The color of cranberry glass...
A little cottage with blue shutters...
Crimson roses in an old stone crock...
The smell of newly baked bread...
Candlelight on old brass...
The soft brown of a cocker spaniel's eyes...
Thank you, in Jesus' name, amen.
(based on lines from Peter Marshall; photo via pixabay.com)
And Ever Thanks
Every good gift comes from your hand, Lord!
Help me to count my blessings this day
and to be grateful to you from whom they flow...
I thank you for the blessing of family and friends,
those with me still and those gone home to you...
I thank you for my eyes and ears,
for finding the beauty of your presence all around me...
I thank you for nature's seasons and all I learn
in their coming and going, year in and year out...
I thank you for the blessing of a sunrise
and the blessing of the same sun's setting...
I thank you for the company of others
and good times shared with them...
I thank you for silence, for solitude
and for times of peace and quiet with you...
I thank you for your mercy and forgiveness,
for your pardon of my faults and sins...
I thank you for correction that helps me grow
and for reprimands that keep me honest...
I thank you for the healing grace of forgiving others
and of others forgiving me...
I thank you for anticipation's joy
and for disappointment's healing...
I thank you for a good night's sleep
and the blessing of sweet dreams...
I thank you for the gift of each new day,
one day at a time...
I thank you for steady work, for satisfying work,
for work that serves the needs of others...
I thank you for the gift of those who help me
and for the opportunity to be of help to others...
I thank you for the works of grace and faith
that shape us as your people...
I thank you for a child's birth,
the promise new life brings...
I thank you for the gift a peaceful death can be
for those who've lost a loved one...
I thank you for the life that's mine
and your promise of a life that never ends...
I thank you for the ordinary, the routine
the unexpected, the surprise...
I thank you for cleansing tears
and for healing laughter...
I thank you for my faith when I'm confused;
for the gift of hope when trust's in short supply;
for the blessing of your love when I'm alone...
In the quiet of my prayer, Lord,
help me count my blessings before I list my problems,
before I whine and whimper,
before I turn to pity for myself...
Every good gift comes from your hand, Lord,
and you're more generous than I'm sometimes willing to notice,
to see, to acknowledge, to remember
and to hold in my heart as gift and grace...
In the quiet of my prayer, Lord,
show me the peace, the grace, the healing
of your blessings in my life:
the ones I often miss, the ones that I've forgotten,
and the blessings will come my way today...
Amen.
(graphic and prayer from A Concord Pastor Comments)
On Thanksgiving
Our Father in Heaven,
If ever we had a cause to offer unto Thee our fervent thanks, surely it is now, on the Eve of our Thanksgiving Day, when we, the people of this Nation, are comfortable, well fed, well clad, and blessed with good things beyond our deserving. May gratitude, the rarest of all virtues, be the spirit of our observance.
Let not feasting, football, and festivity end in forgetfulness of God. May the desperate need of the rest of the world, and our own glorious heritage, remind us of the God who led our Fathers every step of the way by which they advanced to the character of an independent nation.
May the faith and conviction of George Washington be renewed in us as we remember his words:
...there is no truth more thoroughly established than that there exits in the economy and course of nature an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness; between duty and advantage; between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity; since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained...
For if we do not have the grace to thank Thee for all that we have and enjoy, how can we have the effrontery to seek Thy further blessings? God, give us grateful hearts.
For Jesus' sake.
Amen.
(a prayer from the Senate of the United States, November 26, 1947, by Rev. Dr. Peter Marshall, Chaplain)
May We So Break Our Bread
May we so break our bread
In constant, costly giving
That others may be fed. Amen.
(by Lillian Cox; photo via freeimages.com)
For a Grateful Heart
Thou that hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more, a grateful heart.
See how thy beggar works on thee
By art.
He makes thy gifts occasion more,
And says, If he in this be crossed,
All thou hast given him heretofore
Is lost.
But thou didst reckon, when at first
Thy word our hearts and hands did crave,
What it would come to at the worst
To save.
Perpetual knockings at thy door,
Tears sullying thy transparent rooms,
Gift upon gift, much would have more,
And comes.
This not withstanding, thou wenst on,
And didst allow us all our noise:
Nay thou hast made a sigh and groan
Thy joys.
Not that thou hast not still above
Much better tunes, than groans can make;
But that these country-airs thy love
Did take.
Wherefore I cry, and cry again;
And in no quiet canst thou be,
Till I a thankful heart obtain
Of thee:
Not thankful, when it pleaseth me;
As if thy blessings had spare days:
But such a heart, whose pulse may be
Thy praise.
(a prayer by George Herbert)
Calleigh
I give thanks today for Calleigh on her fifteenth birthday.
Thank you for giving to our family
the gift of Calleigh,
this precious young woman,
this beautiful granddaughter,
this wonder, this joy.
Thank you for preserving her
through every trial and challenge.
Thank you for her health,
wholeness,
charm,
beauty,
innocence,
and intricacy.
Thank you for entrusting her to the care of such wonderful parents.
Now, gentle Shepherd, I pray,
continue as you've begun,
adding more health,
strength,
happiness,
brilliance,
love,
character,
and delight
to her life and to our lives through hers,
in Jesus' name, amen.
To Want to Be Holy
Guide me,
make me want again to be holy,
to be a man of God,
even though in desperateness and confusion.
I do not necessarily ask for clarity, a plain way,
but only to go according to your love,
to follow your mercy, to trust your mercy.
I want to seek nothing at all, if this is possible.
But only to be led without looking and without seeking.
For thus to seek is to find.
(a prayer of Thomas Merton, from his journals, August 2, 1960, IV.28)
If You Plan to Bless Me
Lord God Adonai,
if you plan to bless me--and I know you do--
then no devil's strategy
and no man's scheme
can thwart you!
So bless me, Lord.
Bless me,
bless my wife,
bless my family,
bless my children,
my grandchildren,
my home,
my body,
my writing,
speaking,
earning,
spending,
sleeping,
eating,
thinking,
feeling,
dreaming,
praying,
worshiping,
serving,
and more,
in Jesus' name, amen.
(photo by Cantos via Unsplash.com)
I Step Out
O God the author of all good, I come to Thee for the grace another day will require for its duties and events. I step out into a wicked world; I carry about with me an evil heart. I know that without Thee I can do nothing, that everything with which I shall be concerned, however harmless in itself, may prove an occasion of sin or folly, unless I am kept by Thy power. Hold Thou me up and I shall be safe. Preserve my understanding from subtilty of error, my affections from love of idols, my character from stain of vice, my profession from every form of evil. May I engage in nothing in which I cannot implore Thy blessing, and in which I cannot invite Thy inspection. Prosper me in all lawful undertakings, or prepare me for disappointments. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food convenient for me, lest I be full and deny Thee and say, Who is the Lord? or be poor, and steal, and take Thy name in vain.
May every creature be made good to me by prayer and Thy will. Teach me how to use the world and not abuse it, to improve my talents, to redeem my time, to walk in wisdom toward those without, and in kindness to those within, to do good to all men, and especially to my fellow Christians. And to Thee be the glory.
Amen.
(from The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan prayers, edited by Arthur Bennett)
Entrance
O God, if still the holy placeIs found of those in prayer,By all the promises of graceI claim an entrance there.Give me a self-denying soul,Enlarged and unconfined;Abide within me, and controlThe wanderings of the mind.Give me the strength of faith that daresTo die to self each day,That bravely takes the cross, nor caresTo find an easier way.Help me to make more sacrifice,To walk where Christ would lead,That in my life He may ariseTo hallow every deed.Amen.(a prayer of General Albert Orsborn of The Salvation Army)
One Single Day
for today, just one single day,
you have given me grace to pray,
coffee to drink,
food to eat,
clothes to wear.
You allowed me
to wake in my own bed,
in health,
and in (mostly) my right mind.
I have hope of meaningful work,
innumerable comforts,
and a happy conclusion to this day.
By your grace, I can see, hear, touch, taste, feel.
By your grace, I know love and companionship.
By your grace, I have the means to buy, and abundance to give.
By your grace, I am forgiven and forgiving.
For this and more,
just one day's worth,
I give you my most heartfelt thanks!
Amen.
(photo by RachelScottYoga via pixabay.com)
Perseverance
Murmuring "Thou"
He whom I bow to only knows to whom I bow
When I attempt the ineffable Name, murmuring Thou,
And dream of Pheidian fancies and embrace in heart
Symbols (I know) which cannot be the thing thou art.
Thus always, taken at their word, all prayers blaspheme
Worshiping with frail images a folk-lore dream,
And all men in their praying, self-deceived, address
The coinage of their own unquiet thoughts, unless
Thou in magnetic mercy to thyself divert
Our arrows aimed unskillfully, beyond desert;
And all men are idolaters, crying unheard
To a deaf idol, if thou take them at their word.
Take not, O Lord, our literal sense. Lord, in thy great,
Unbroken speech our limping metaphor translate.
(a prayer by C.S. Lewis; photo by zsbenko via everystockphoto.com)
When I attempt the ineffable Name, murmuring Thou,
And dream of Pheidian fancies and embrace in heartSymbols (I know) which cannot be the thing thou art.
Thus always, taken at their word, all prayers blaspheme
Worshiping with frail images a folk-lore dream,
And all men in their praying, self-deceived, address
The coinage of their own unquiet thoughts, unless
Thou in magnetic mercy to thyself divert
Our arrows aimed unskillfully, beyond desert;
And all men are idolaters, crying unheard
To a deaf idol, if thou take them at their word.
Take not, O Lord, our literal sense. Lord, in thy great,
Unbroken speech our limping metaphor translate.
(a prayer by C.S. Lewis; photo by zsbenko via everystockphoto.com)
The Joys of the Secret Place
who sees and hears in secret,
disclose to me the joys of the secret place.
Teach me to pray there,
and stay there,
and go again from there in confidence.
Grant me the rewards of the secret place,
first and foremost, the knowledge that I have been with you,
and you have met with me,
in Jesus’ name, amen.
(from The Red Letter Prayer Life, p. 32; photo by "tinyfroglet" via everystockphoto.com)
Forgive Us Our Debts
Forgive the things I've charged or financed
to assuage my desires
instead of waiting,
instead of saving,
instead of giving.
Forgive the money I've wasted
on impulse purchases,
interest payments,
and fees and penalties.
Forgive the consumer mentality
that makes me buy now,
pay later,
pay more in the long run.
Teach me to wait,
to save,
to resist temptation,
in Jesus' name, amen.
(photo by Chance Agrella via freerangestock.com)
Grit
a man who,
when he knows a thing to be right,
will not turn away, or turn aside, or stop;
a man who will persevere all the more
because there are difficulties to meet
or foes to encounter;
who will stand all the more true to my Master
because I am opposed;
who, the more I am thrust into the fire,
the hotter I become;
who, just like the bow,
the further the string is drawn
the more powerfully it sends forth its arrows,
and so the more I am trodden upon,
the more mighty I will become
in the cause of truth against error,
in Jesus' name, amen.
(modeled on lines by Charles Spurgeon; photo by frozenchipmunk via everystockphoto.com)
On Veterans' Day
God of peace,
we pray for those
who have served our nation
and who laid down their lives
to protect and defend our freedom.
whose spirits and bodies
are scarred by war,
whose nights are haunted by memories
too painful for the light of day.
We pray for those who serve us now,
especially for those in harm's way:
shield them from danger
and bring them home.
Turn the hearts and minds
of our leaders and our enemies
to the work of justice and a harvest of peace.
Spare the poor, Lord, spare the poor!
May the peace you left us,
the peace you gave us,
be the peace that sustains,
the peace that saves us.
Christ Jesus, hear us!
Lord Jesus, hear our prayer!
Amen.
(from A Concord Pastor Comments blog; photo by KaraSuva via pixabay.com)
While It Lasts
Thank you, Lord,
that I can walk without pain,
see without impediment,
hear without assistance,
sleep without fear,
chew without discomfort,
swallow without effort,
work without end!
Amen.
Neither Untimely Nor Uncharitable
Abba, Father, help me to do as your Word says,
and make no untimely
or uncharitable judgments about anyone
but to wait until the day of the Lord's return
when he will bring our darkest secrets to light,
reveal our private motives,
and give to each of us whatever is due,
in Jesus' name, amen.
(based on 1 Corinthians 4:4-5)
Post-election Prayer
God, thank you
for the right
and responsibility
to vote.
Thank you for volunteers
who man the polls.
Thank you for poll watchers
who try to keep the process honest.
Thank you for all who exercise,
and for all who worked
and fought
and died
to protect and preserve,
this freedom for all.
You change times and seasons;
you depose kings and raise up others.
You give wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.
You reveal deep and hidden things;
you know what lies in darkness,
and light dwells with you.
Praise be to your name, God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
(last lines based on Daniel 2:20-22)
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On Election Day 2024
I pray for safe and secure elections. Let cheaters and abusers of the system be exposed and prosecuted. Bless poll workers and election officials with honor, stamina, focus, and integrity.
I pray for every candidate for every office, and the people who love them: God, be merciful to them and bless them; look on them with kindness (Psalm 67:1), whether they win or lose, and accomplish what is best for them, their loved ones, and their constituents.
I pray Isaiah 11:2 for every voter: Holy Spirit, speak to every person who votes in this election. Send the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD on everyone who casts a ballot.
I pray for justice to roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream, through my neighborhood, city, state, and nation (Amos 5:24).
I pray for your people to participate in this election and respond to the results not in a spirit of fear and timidity, much less of anger and retribution, but in a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7).
As Jesus prayed, I ask for your will rather than mine (Matthew 26:39). Dispel suspicion and hatred, heal divisions, repair the damage to and by your church, and restore unity and sanity to our nation.
And, finally, Father, I ask for the faith to see your hand in the results of this election, even as I remember those people around the world who have no voice and no vote. Let my reaction to this election reveal my faith in You and my awareness of my privilege and responsibility as a citizen, in Jesus’ name, amen.
Cast
Lord, I cast all my cares upon you.
I lay all of my burdens down at your feet.
And even though I don't know what to do,
I just cast all my cares upon you.
Anoint
Lord God, what a marvel, that I can proclaim your Word!
What an honor.
What a joy.
You dwell with the lowly
and visit those who tremble at Your Word.
Anoint me with lowliness.
Fill me with trembling.
Come upon me in spirit and truth.
Overshadow me with your Spirit.
All my springs are in you, Lord.
Flow from me
for the salvation of sinners
and for the blessing,
admonition,
and upbuilding of your church,
in Jesus' name, amen.
For the Heart of the Saints
you have knit together your elect
in one communion and fellowship
in the mystical body
of Your Son, Christ our Lord,
and kindled the flame of your love
in the hearts of the saints.
I praise you for the holy men and women
you have raised up
in every time and place.
Give me grace so to follow their example
in devotion and godliness
that I may come
to those ineffable joys
that you have prepared for those
who unfeignedly love you,
through the same Jesus Christ our Lord,
who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns,
one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
(updated and modernized from the Catholic Liturgy of the Hours, the Gothic Missal, and The Book of Common Prayer, 1979)
Deliver Us
And long-leggedy beasties
And things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord, deliver us!
(traditional Scottish prayer;
photo via publicdomainpictures.net)
Spring of All My Blessings
To Thee my all I owe;
Thy constant goodness is the spring
Whence all my blessings flow.
The creature of Thy hand,
On Thee alone I live;
Thy countless benefits demand
More praise than I can give.
O let Thy grace inspire
My soul with strength divine!
Let all my powers to Thee aspire,
And all my days be Thine.
(a hymn by Anne Steele)
Like Jeremiah
Lord God Adonai, by your great grace
make me, like Jeremiah,
"a fortified city, an iron pillar, bronze walls,"
in Jesus' name, amen.
(based on Jeremiah 1:18)
Another Day
of life,
health,
thought,
work,
struggle,
uncertainty,
discovery,
pleasure,
pain,
purpose,
trial,
disappointment,
surprise,
blessing,
and trust?
Yes, please.
For Things I Don't Possess
for the things I don't possess:
fancy cars,
expensive clothes,
a boat,
a plane,
a jet ski,
a second mortgage,
a divorce settlement,
an alimony payment,
a bodyguard,
a fence around my property.
Thank you also, Lord,
for the things that don't possess ME:
drugs or alcohol,
guilt or shame,
a need to maintain a certain lifestyle
or a desire to keep up appearances.
Thank you that I am not afflicted
with wealth,
fame,
or beauty,
in Jesus' name, amen.
(photo by Jim Winstead via everystockphoto.com)
In You, Only in You
Lord, I am helpless without you. I am powerless without you.
I am wholly, thoroughly inadequate without you.
I am empty, weak, ineffectual without you.
But in you, abiding in you, only in you
I am more than a conqueror.
In you, I can move mountains.
In you, I can scale a wall,
overthrow kingdoms,
shut the mouths of lions,
rout armies...
in you, abiding in you and walking in your Spirit,
I can face all things through Christ, who is my strength. Amen.
Pierce Our Souls with Your Love
and Maker of all creation,
Who, because of your clemency
and incomparable mercy,
sent your Only-Begotten Son
and our Lord Jesus Christ
for the salvation of mankind,
and with His venerable Cross
tore asunder the record of our sins,
and thereby conquered the rulers and powers of darkness;
receive from us sinful people, O merciful Master,
these prayers of gratitude and supplication,
and deliver us from every destructive and gloomy transgression,
and from all visible and invisible enemies who seek to injure us.
Nail down our flesh with reverential fear of you,
and let not our hearts be inclined to words or thoughts of evil,
but pierce our souls with your love,
that ever contemplating you,
being enlightened by you,
and discerning you,
the unapproachable and everlasting Light,
we may unceasingly render confession and gratitude to you:
The eternal Father, with your Only-Begotten Son,
and with your All-Holy, Gracious, and Life-Giving Spirit,
now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
(a prayer of St. Basil, slightly modernized; photo by Jacob Bentzinger via Unsplash.com)
Witness to Your Kindness
(a prayer from the upcoming book, How to Survive the End of the World)
Aubrey
and I still can't fathom,
can't even process,
that she is all she is.
I'm still and always amazed
at how kindly, fully, and generously
you've answered my prayers
and her mother's prayers
for her.
You have made her faithful like Ruth and regal like Esther,
fierce like Deborah and brilliant like Abigail,
industrious like Lydia and a leader like Junia.
I give you so much praise and thanks
for my only daughter,
my firstborn, my Blossom;
for the child you gave me,
the woman she is,
the love we share,
the pride and joy I feel in her,
the blessings you've given her,
and the blessings you've given me through her.
Please bless her abundantly today
and in all the days to come.
Keep her safe and well.
Keep her marriage strong and beautiful.
Prosper her and her husband,
answer their prayers,
supply their needs,
fulfill their dreams.
Let her children continue to grow in happiness, health, and holiness.
Reward Aubrey's love and faithfulness and diligence as a mom
with beauty and grace,
charm and wisdom,
health and wholeness,
integrity and strength in each of her children
as you have done for me in mine.
Show her every kindness,
grant her your favor,
use her,
bless her,
hold her,
in Jesus' name, amen.
For Loved Ones Who Are Hurting
Strong and Courageous
My prayer today for my kids and my grandkids, from the "31 Ways to Pray for Your Kids" app for iPhone and iPad:
On Yom Kippur
On this day our Christian thoughts are turned to Jewish possibilities of forgiveness and reconciliation.
On this day we stand with them in covenant,
before you,
before your Torah,
amid a world torn asunder.
Our thoughts are of death and destruction,
of fragility and life under threat.
We ponder cities mired in mud and
mountains wrecked in quake;
we notice melting ice and rising water;
we name places of violence
far away and close to home.
We tremble in our insecurity,
afraid to be victim,
but now and then noticing that we are perpetrators;
we finance and applaud faraway violence,
usually not naming the torn bodies or
raped mothers or forgotten children.
We feel uneasy but not frontally guilty,
not until we face your thoughts
that are remote from our thoughts;
we imagine that you think in grief and disappointment
over the mess we have made;
we imagine that you shudder in dismay and anger
over the violation of your good dream;
we imagine that you are ready to abandon us.
But we also imagine that your thoughts are interrupted
by your own poets and prophets,
who line out newness...
new exodus,
new covenant,
new forgiveness,
new life.
While we watch in our dis-ease,
we hear Easter news again,
and your resolve of new beginning.
And so we begin to move
from sadness to joy,
from hurt to dance,
from enslavement to freedom.
And then we wait again for your wonder to become visible
in the world of empires and colonies,
of mudslides and torrents.
We wait. Come fully, come soon.
(a prayer by Walter Brueggemann, from his book, Prayers for a Privileged People)
Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies
Christ, the true, the only Light,
Sun of Righteousness, arise,
Triumph o’er the shades of night;
Dayspring from on high be near;
Day-star, in my heart appear.
Visit now this soul of mine,
Pierce the gloom of sin and grief;
Fill me, Radiancy divine,
Scatter all my unbelief;
More and more Yourself display,
Shining to the perfect day.
(from a hymn by Charles Wesley; photo via everystockphoto.com)
Come and Dwell
(suggested by lines from Helps to Holiness by Samuel Logan Brengle, chapter 19; now revised and updated for modern readers)
