Revive and Restore

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.

(excerpted from the upcoming book, How to Survive the End of the World)

God of Joyful Shouting

Lord, I praise you because you are
a God of joyful shouting,
a God of celebration,
a God who leaps and dances,
a God who sings,
a God who is (in Tozer's words)
"having a good time!"

God, help me to know your joy, your zeal, your zestful nature. Put me in touch with your singing, dancing, shouting heart. Let me laugh with you today and enjoy what you enjoy. Restore to me the joy of your salvation...of your very nature, in Jesus' name, amen.

Help Me to Stick to My Task

Almighty God, judge of all the earth,
keep me from ever supposing that I am the judge of others,
deciding their worth or conniving in vengeance.
My job is to sing your praises and love my neighbor.
Help me to stick to my task, for Jesus' sake, amen.

(a prayer of Eugene Peterson, from Praying With the Psalms,
reading for January 8).

Make Me For Thyself Complete

Blessed Saviour, now behold me
Waiting at thy bleeding feet;
In thy mercy breathe upon me,
Make me for thyself complete.

Breathe upon me, even me,
Make me what I ought to be;
In thy mercy breathe upon me,
Make me for thyself complete.

Take my undivided being.
Thou hast bought me with thy blood;
All my sins thou hast forgiven;
Let my future be for God.

Should my days be few or many,
Should my strength be great or small,
Be my talents two or fifty,
Jesus, thou shalt have them all.

While I live be thou my leader,
When I die be thou my share;
In thy strength I'm bound to conquer
While for thee my cross I bear.

(a prayer by William Baugh)

U'Netaneh Tokef (A Prayer of Yom Kippur)

So now, the Kedushah prayer shall ascend to You, for You, our God, are King.

Let us now relate the power of this day's holiness, for it is awesome and frightening. On it Your Kingship will be exalted; Your throne will be firmed with kindness and You will sit upon it in truth. It is true that You alone are the One Who judges, proves, knows, and bears witness; Who writes and seats, (counts and calculates); Who remembers all that was forgotten. You will open the Book of Chronicles - it will read itself, and everyone's signature is in it. The great shofar will be sounded and a still, thin sound will be heard. Angels will hasten, a trembling and terror will seize them - and they will say, 'Behold, it is the Day of Judgment, to muster the heavenly host for judgment!'- for they cannot be vindicated in Your eyes in judgment.

All mankind will pass before You like members of the flock. Like a shepherd pasturing his flock, making sheep pass under his staff, so shall You cause to pass, count, calculate, and consider the soul of all the living; and You shall apportion the fixed needs of all Your creatures and inscribe their verdict.

On Rosh Hashanah will be inscribed and on Yom Kippur will be sealed how many will pass from the earth and how many will be created; who will live and who will die; who will die at his predestined time and who before his time; who by water and who by fire, who by sword, who by beast, who by famine, who by thirst, who by storm, who by plague, who by strangulation, and who by stoning. Who will rest and who will wander, who will live in harmony and who will be harried, who will enjoy tranquillity and who will suffer, who will be impoverished and who will be enriched, who will be degraded and who will be exalted.

But REPENTANCE, PRAYER and CHARITY

Remove the Evil of the Decree!

For Your Name signifies Your praise: hard to anger and easy to appease, for You do not wish the death of one deserving death, but that he repent from his way and live. Until the day of his death You await him; if he repents You will accept him immediately.

It is true that You are their Creator and You know their inclination, for they are flesh and blood. A man's origin is from dust and his destiny is back to dust, at risk of his life he earns his bread; he is likened to a broken shard, withering grass, a fading flower, a passing shade, a dissipating cloud, a blowing wind, flying dust, and a fleeting dream.

But You are the King, the Living and Enduring G-d.

There is no set span to Your years and there is no end to the length of Your days. It is impossible to estimate the angelic chariots of Your glory and to elucidate Your Name's inscrutability. Your Name is worthy of You and You are worthy of Your Name, and You have included Your Name in our name.

Change of Season

Father, thank you for the change of season from summer to autumn. Thank you for the beauty of the leaves as they change color, for the smells of wood fires, for the tastes of the different foods, and for the coolness of the days. As life comes out of the decay and death we see in nature, we rejoice in knowing that you bring life and restoration to us.  Amen.

(from the Daily Prayer blog)

Past, Present, Future Prayer

(from the September 21 reading of E. Stanley Jones's The Way)

Spirit Fall Down

A Prayer for the First Day of Fall

When I must go, dear God, please let it be
A golden autumn day; when red leaves fall,
When purple grapes in shining clusters hang
And bittersweet glows bright against the wall,

When o'er the barren fields and russet meads
Their last farewells the crickets cry.
Let me make my silent journey
When the homing birds fly south across the sky.

When I must go, dear God, please let me go
As silently as autumn rain,
As still as lacy shadows 'neath the willow trees,
As calm as is the moon above the hill.

So let me go--and may there be no grief
When life is done and I must say goodbye.
I'll take my leave with flowers and falling leaf
And lie in peaceful sleep beneath the sky.

(unattributed)

A Prayer for the Last Day of Summer

As Summer into Autumn slips,
O give me grace today
To rise and turn as Summer's leaves
Draw life and strength from heavenly rays.

(first line from Emily Dickinson)

In Your Time

Heavenly Father, 
you make everything beautiful in your time (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

I submit to your timing. 
I await your timing. 
I desire what you will, 
as you will, 
when you will. 

That goes for my writing, too.

I long to touch lives with my words...in your time.
I want to write passionately, effectively, impactfully...in your time.
I yearn to think and communicate clearly and sharply...in your time.
I pray to craft artful, beautiful words, sentences, and passages...in your time.
I ask for publication, for contracts, for endorsements, for readers, and for life-changing influence...in your time,

In Jesus' name, amen.

You Are All Abundance

O eternal light, eternal salvation, eternal love, eternal sweetness, let me see you, let me feel you, let me taste you.

O eternal delight, eternal consolation, eternal happiness, let me dwell in you; everything I lack in my misery I find in you.

You are all abundance, and apart from you is nothing but poverty, woe, and misery. Life without you is bitter death. Your kindness is better than life itself. Amen.

(from the book Amish Prayers, compiled by Beverly Lewis)

Ecclesiastes 3:11 Prayer

Great God,
you make all things beautiful in your time.
You make all things right in your time.
You make all things whole in your time.
You make all things clear in your time.
You make all things worthwhile in your time.
You make all things sweet in your time.
You make all things complete in your time.
For this I praise you.
For this I thank you.
Amen.

Hallow All My Circumstances

Purify my soul,
make my eyes keen and watchful,
in order that I may discern your purpose
at every turning of the way.
Help me to hallow all my circumstances
whether they appear friendly or adverse,
and may I subdue them all to my King's will.
Amen.

(from J. H. Jowett, The Whole Armour of God, p. 152; slightly revised).

Keep Me Abiding

Prayer for a Strong Economy

Lord, Your Word says that You are the one "who gives power to get wealth" (Deuteronomy 8:18). And when you give wealth, You don't bring sorrow with it (Proverbs 10:22). And You say that being greedy for gain takes away from our lives (Proverbs 1:19). Help us to find that balance where we are not greedy for gain, but as we do our work enable us to receive financial rewards and blessings from it.

In that same way I pray for our nation's economy. Make it strong and stable. Keep it from getting out of control so that people's lives are not destroyed. Especially protect people living in poverty, or on the edge of it, who would be most painfully affected by a slipping economy. I pray that You would put godly and brilliant men in the positions of making decisions about our nation's economy. Give them vision to foresee the future and wisdom to make the right choices concerning it. Show them what the consequences will be for their actions.

I pray that we will not follow the gods of money and materialism. Let us not be a people who "trust in their wealth and boast in the multitude of their riches" (Psalm 49:6). I pray instead that we will be a people who look to You for our blessings. Establish us as a holy people to Yourself, as You have promised to do if we keep Your commandments and walk in Your ways. May we be people who lend and do not borrow, who give as You direct us. Bless Your people with the riches You want us to have, so that we in turn will be able to bless others.

In Jesus' name I pray.

(from Powerful Prayers for Troubled Times, by Stormie Omartian)

Brief But Heartfelt

My Psalm 5 Prayer On September 13

Lord, listen to my words.
I am sad, grief-stricken, and outraged.
I cry for help, my King and my God,
I pray to you.
Lord, every morning you hear my voice.
Every morning, I call out to you,
and I await your answer.

I know you are not pleased with the wicked;
you abhor those who riot
and hate.
Those who torch embassies
and brutally kill Americans
because they are Americans
do not know you.
You abhor all who do evil.
You oppose those who hate and kill and destroy
and who teach others to do the same.

Because of your great love,
I bow in your presence
and beg your comfort and strength for the families
of Ambassador Stevens
and the others who were so wantonly murdered yesterday.

Lord, save such hatred and violence
from engendering either cruelty or coddling in me,
and in the American people.
Please make our leaders wise
and show them clearly how you want them to respond.

Close the mouths of those who tell lies;
stay the hands of those who want to destroy others.
Let the guilty fall into their own traps.
Banish those whose wickedness is so great,
banish them from the airwaves,
from newsprint,
from the streets
and from the world's governments.

Let everyone who trusts you be blessed;
let them learn and teach songs of joy.
Protect those who love you
and who are happy because of you.

Bless those who do right;
protect them like a shield.

Amen.

Crooked Lines

O God,
I surrender to You
the crooked lines of my life.
They don't make sense.
But I know You can write straight
even on a crooked line.
So they are at Your disposal.
Amen.

(from the September 1 reading of E. Stanley Jones's The Way)

A Prayer on 9/11

We remember the first time we heard the news.
We recall the first time we saw those images.
We remember the way our thoughts and prayers were with those families who lost loved ones.
Our thoughts and prayers are with them again today.

O God of comfort - eleven years have passed.

Yesterday, today and forever;
let your love and peace endure.


We remember those who survived.
We recall their heart-breaking stories.
We remember that their lives are forever scarred by those moments.
Our thoughts and prayers are with them again today.

O God of healing - eleven years have passed.

Yesterday, today and forever;
let your love and peace endure.


We remember the pain we felt.
We recall the bereavement and bitterness of the aftermath.
We remember that you are a God of redemption and restoration.
Help us forgive those who caused so much trauma, and that we may find release in that forgiveness.

O God of forgiveness - eleven years have passed.

Yesterday, today and forever;
let your love and peace endure.


We remember that you love the world.
We recall you sent your Son to bring reconciliation and salvation.
We remember your Spirit inhabits your Church.
Help us bring your comfort and peace to all.

O God of hope - eleven years have passed.

Yesterday, today and forever;
let your love and peace endure.


© Jimmy Orr/engageworship.org

To Redeem Us

Almighty Father in your eternal kingdom, we give you praise and thanks for your unspeakably great grace and mercy, and for eternal salvation through your beloved Son, our dear Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. O Lord Christ, you suffered and endured bitter agony and death, the shedding of your innocent blood, to redeem us from eternal humiliation and pain. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, may you above all things be highly praised, honored, and blessed from now until eternity. Amen.

(from the book Amish Prayers, compiled by Beverly Lewis)

A Choral Psalm 67

Breath

My Prayer, My Aim

My heart has no desire to stay
Where doubts arise and fears dismay;
Though some may dwell where those abound,
My prayer, my aim, is higher ground.

I want to live above the world,
Though Satan’s darts at me are hurled;
For faith has caught the joyful sound,
The song of saints on higher ground.

I want to scale the utmost height
And catch a gleam of glory bright;
But still I’ll pray till heav’n I’ve found,
“Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”

Lord, lift me up and let me stand,
By faith, on Heaven’s tableland,
A higher plane than I have found;
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

Amen.

(from a hymn by Johnson Oatman)

A Prayer of Gertrude the Great

Deliver me from timidity of spirit and from storminess...
from all heedlessness in my behavior, deliver me, Oh Lord.

Save Me From Excuse-Making

Lord God,
I remember that Samuel Logan Brengle wrote in a sick bed,
and Ken Taylor wrote on a train;
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in prison,
the Apostle Paul while chained to a guard.
Let the same Spirit who inspired those men
save me from excuse-making,
and energize my writing,
wherever I am,
in whatever circumstance,
in Jesus' name, amen.

Vine Prayer

Lord Jesus, you are the vine; I am the branch.

Help me to constantly abide in you, that I may bear much fruit;
for apart from you I can do nothing.

Let your words remain in me,
that I may ask whatever I wish, and it will be done for me, to the glory of the Father.

Also help me to glorify the Father by bearing much fruit, showing myself to be your disciple.

Amen.

(based on John 15:5-8)

For Mercy Project

Lord God, I pray for your abundant blessing on the work of Mercy Project in Ghana, Africa. Through them, Lord, please have mercy on the estimated seven thousand children who are slaves, working 14-hour days, 7 days a week, in Ghana's fishing industry.

Oh, Lord God, bless Mercy Project's efforts to break the cycles of trafficking around Lake Volta in Ghana by providing alternate, more efficient, sustainable, fishing methods for villagers, ultimately eliminating the need for child slaves. Bring to pass that hoped-for first group of children who will be freed this month from Lake Volta. Let them find new hope and new life, in Jesus' name.

Please bless Mercy Project's vision. Bless them financially. Make straight paths for their feet. Give them favor in the eyes of influential people. And enlarge their capacity until every last child is freed and no more are enslaved, in Jesus' name, amen.

Create in Me

Gift Upon Gift

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)