A daily prayer blog by Bob Hostetler, the author of The Red Letter Prayer Life and the 31 Ways to Pray for Your Kids iPhone and iPad app. Just one prayer each day. Seldom more. Seldom very long. Sometimes personal. Sometimes original. Always sincere.
I Claim an Entrance
That Hoping in Thee We May Do Good
O Lord, in Whom is our hope,remove far from us,we pray Thee,empty hopes and presumptuous confidence.Make our hearts so rightwith Thy most holy and loving heart,that hoping in Thee we may do good;until that daywhen faith and hope shall be abolishedby sight and possession,and love shall be all in all.Amen.(a prayer by Christina Rossetti; photo by Lars_Nissen via pixabay.com)
Flower and Sun
On Veterans' Day
Quietness and Confidence
Help me to prove it, here and now,
in Jesus' name, amen.
Kyrie
Lord, King and Father unbegotten, True Essence of the Godhead,
have mercy on me.
Lord, Fount of light and Creator of all things,
have mercy on me.
Lord, Thou who hast signed me with the seal of Thine image,
have mercy on me.
Christ, True God and True Man,
have mercy on me.
Christ, Rising Sun, through whom are all things,
have mercy on me.
Christ, Perfection of Wisdom,
have mercy on me.
Lord, vivifying Spirit and power of life,
have mercy on me.
Lord, Breath of the Father and the Son, in Whom are all things,
have mercy on me.
Lord, Purger of sin and Almoner of grace,
I beseech Thee abandon me not because of my sins,
O Consoler of the sorrowing soul,
have mercy on me.
Amen.
Post-Election-Day Prayer
wisdom and power are yours.
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.
(based on Daniel 2:20-22; photo via Pixabay.com)
Election Day Prayer
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, 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 the unity of 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.
On All Saints' Day
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)
On All Hallows' Eve
A Prayer of Columba of Iona
Be thou a guiding star above me,
Be thou a smooth path below me,
Be thou a kindly shepherd behind me,
Today - tonight - and for ever.
Just Like Jeremiah
Pity My Unsettled Soul
Jesus, Shepherd of the sheep,
Pity my unsettled soul;
Guide and nourish me and keep,
Till Thy love shall make me whole.
Give me perfect soundness, give;
Make me steadfastly believe.
I am never at one stay,
Changing every hour I am;
But Thou art, as yesterday,
Now and evermore the same.
Constancy to me impart,
Stablish with Thy Grace my heart.
Give me faith to hold me up,
Walking over life's rough sea;
Holy, purifying hope,
Still my soul's sure anchor be.
That I may be always Thine,
Perfect me in love divine.
(a prayer of Charles Wesley)

















