A Prayer of Martin Luther

Behold, Lord, an empty vessel
that needs to be filled.
My Lord, fill it.
I am weak in the faith; strengthen me.
I am cold in love; warm me
and make me fervent,
that my love may go out to my neighbor.
I do not have a strong and firm faith;
at times I doubt and am unable to trust you altogether.
O Lord, help me.
Strengthen my faith and trust in you.
In you I have sealed the treasure of all I have.
I am poor; you are rich
and came to be merciful to the poor.
I am a sinner; you are upright.
With me, there is an abundance of sin;
in you is the fullness of righteousness.
Therefore I will will remain with you, of whom I can receive,
but to whom I may not give.
Amen.

Preaching and Preachers

Living Word,
thank you for the preaching
and the preachers
that have fed and sustained my soul:
Peter Marshall,
Tom Skinner,
John R. W. Stott,
Festo Kivengere,
Billy Graham,
Elisabeth Eliot,
Leonard Ravenhill,
Tom Hermiz,
Charles Swindoll,
Rob Bell,
Erwin McManus,
T. D. Jakes,
Haddon Robinson,
Tommy Nelson,
Fred Craddock,
E. V. Hill,
Brennan Manning,
R. C. Sproul,
Ravi Zacharias,
Francis Chan,
Efrem Smith,
Mark Batterson,
and many, many others,
less famous,
such as Andy Miller
and Charles Killian
and Cliff Sipley
and Bill Francis
and Damon Rader
and Israel Gaither
and Gene Pigford
and my brother Don
and Liz Curtis Higgs
and Virelle Kidder
and Matt Kelty
and John Johnson
and many, many others too numerous to mention.
You have taught me so much
by the diligent work
of your faithful servants,
and I thank you,
in Jesus' name, amen.

Pinafore Prayer

Lord Jesus,
we come to Thee now as little children.
Dress us again in clean pinafores;
make us tidy once more
with the tidiness of true remorse and confession.
O, wash our hearts, that they may be clean again.
Make us to know
the strengthening joys of the Spirit,
and the newness of life which only Thou can give.
Amen.

(a prayer of Peter Marshall)

Enlarge

Lord, "I will run in the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart" (Psalm 119:32, KJV).

Oh, enlarge my heart, please.
Increase my capacity for you.
Flood every spiritual valve and ventricle,
every corner and cubbyhole of my heart and spirit
with your gracious presence and sovereign control.
I need you, I want you, I will not let you go
until you bless me with more, more, more of yourself.

Let me be satisfied in you today, as with the richest of foods, in Jesus' name, amen.

All Who Serve Us

Lord Jesus, bless all who serve us,
who have dedicated their lives to the ministry of others--
all the teachers of our schools who labor so patiently with so little appreciation;
all who wait upon the public,
the clerks in the stores who have to accept criticism, complaints, bad manners, selfishness at the hands of a thoughtless public.
Bless the mailmen,
the drivers of streetcars and buses who must listen to people who lose their tempers.

Bless every humble soul who,
in these days of stress and strain,
preaches sermons without words.
Amen.

(a prayer of Peter Marshall)

Blessed Obscurity

Lord, thank you that my high school transcripts are not on the Internet,
that my first sermon is not on YouTube,
that my off-the-cuff comments don't make the news,
and that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses me from all sin.
Amen.

A Prayer by John Henry Cardinal Newman, Slightly Revised

Praise to you, Holiest, in the height,
And in the depth be praise;
In all your words most wonderful,
Most sure in all your ways.

O loving wisdom of my God!
When all was sin and shame,
A second Adam to the fight
And to my rescue came.

O wisest love! that flesh and blood,
Which did in Adam fail,
Should strive afresh against the foe,
Should strive and should prevail.

And that a higher gift than grace
Should flesh and blood refine,
Your Presence and your very Self,
And Essence all divine.

O generous love! that you, who smote,
In Man for man the foe,
The double agony in Man
For man should undergo.

And in the garden secretly,
And on the Cross on high,
Should teach His brethren, and inspire
To suffer and to die.

Praise to you, Holiest in the height,
And in the depths be praise;
In all your words most wonderful,
Most sure in all your ways.

Luke 17:5 Prayer

Lord, as your apostles asked, I ask: increase my faith.
Is it a mustard seed yet?

I haven't moved any mulberry trees,

let alone a mountain.
Yet.
But my small faith has moved me.
It has driven me over and over again into your arms,
into utter, helpless dependence on you.
Is that a mustard seed yet?

My small faith is rooted firmly in the soil of your sufficiency.
I know my inadequacy.
I am thoroughly convinced of my helplessness.
I know apart from you I can do nothing,
but abiding in you, I can do all things.

So increase my faith, please.
I tremble even as I ask it, because I know
that you most often increase my faith through testing and trial.
But let it be.
Increase my faith, until by your grace I make mulberry trees quake, in Jesus' name, amen.

My Sunday Morning Prayer

I'm here to meet with you;
Come and meet with me.
I'm here to find you,
reveal yourself to me.

As I wait, you make me strong;
As I long, draw me to your arms;
As I stand and sing your praise,
You come, you come and you fill this place.
Won't you come, Won't you come and fill this place.

I'm here to meet with you;
Come and meet with me.

Visit Now This Soul of Mine

Holy Spirit of God,
visit now this soul of mine,
and tarry within it
until the eventide.
Inspire all my thoughts.
Pervade all my imaginations.
Suggest all my decisions.
Lodge in my soul's most inward citadel,
and order all my doings.
Be with me in silence and in my speech,
in my haste and in my leisure,
in company and in solitude,
in the freshness of the morning and the weariness of the evening.
Give me grace at all times to rejoice in Thy mysterious companionship.
Amen.

(a prayer of John Baillie in A Diary of Private Prayer

Can I Have the Things I Pray For?

Can I have the things I pray for?
God, you know best;
You are wiser than your children,
Therefore, I can rest.

Seasons

Great Creator, thank you for the seasons that unfold right outside my windows,
and display your beauty and creativity,
and remind me of your many blessings and provisions.

Thank you for the vibrancy of Spring,
the budding of trees and blooming of flowers,
the return of the birds and smell of the air.

Thank you for the pleasures of Summer,
the bright sunny days and perfect moonlit evenings,
the smells of mowed grass and air thick with rain.

Thank you for the colors of Fall,
the crisp air and crackling leaves,
the cooling days and Indian Summers.

Thank you for the glistening Winters,
the shimmer of sun on snow and the crack of branches under ice,
for biting winds and welcoming fireplaces.

Great Creator, thank you for the seasons of this earth,
and likewise for the seasons of my life,
that teach me one after the other
that you are good.
Amen.

God of All Creation

My Heart is Yours

My heart is yours, Lord; my heart is yours.
My life is yours.
My wife is yours.
My children.
My grandchildren.
All yours.
My worship.
My allegiance.
My devotion
and attention belong to you.
My work,
my writing,
my speaking. .
My mind and soul and strength,
my hurts and sorrows,
my hopes and dreams,
my past, present, and future--
all yours.
My talents,
my strengths,
my weaknesses,
my hands and eyes and ears and voice,
my moments and my days,
my joys and laughter,
pleasures and pains.
All I am and all I have are yours.
Do what you will.
You have my heart,
you have my trust,
you have my all,
in Jesus' name, amen.

A Prayer for My Readers

What a privilege is mine
to write
and to publish.
What an honor
that people around the world
and down through the years
may be able to read these words
I write today.

I pray for every one of my readers, Lord:
Those who will seek out my words,
those who will receive them from a friend,
those who will stumble upon them,
those who will read them only because
there's nothing else at hand.
Let each of them find you in what I write.
Let every one be drawn closer to you by these words.
Let the clarity and quality of my work today
pay eternal dividends
and glorify you
exceeding abundantly above I can imagine or dream,
in Jesus' name, amen.

A Morning Prayer

O, good God, good morning!

You've given me another day to live, Lord:
a day to shape into something beautiful,
a day to serve others, a day to give you thanks,
a day in the life of you and me, Lord.

How would you have me spend this day?
With whom would you have me share it?
Along what path will your Spirit draw me?
Close to whose heart will your heart lead me?

What word would you have me speak today?
What quiet time together have you planned for us to share?
What tears might I cry today
And with what joy will you touch my soul?

When I'm tired today give me strength, Lord.
When I'm moving too fast, slow me down.
When I'm saying too much, let me know.
When I need to speak, give me words to say.

Give me patience with this day's routine, Lord,
and open my eyes to see what is fresh and new.
Because this day comes from your hand, it's blessed
and because I can offer it back to you, it's a gift.

O, good God, good morning!
Keep me safe until I say good night...

(from A Concord Pastor Comments)

Skin

On My Daughter's Thirtieth Birthday

Thank you for this, Lord:
for her,
my daughter,
my Blossom,
the apple of my eye,
my pride,
my joy,
who turns thirty today.

Oh my.
I can't believe it.
How fast the years have flown by.
How unimaginably wonderful you made her
and grew her
and refined her
all along the way.

In her, you have made my dreams
come true,
so I pray for her,
please make all her dreams come true--
and in her
fulfill all your dreams for her
in Jesus' name, amen.

A Prayer of Charles Finney, Updated

Refrigerator Thanks

Lord, thank you for a refrigerator.
Thank you for ice when I want,
cold water when I want,
fresh fruit
and vegetables when I want,
cold juice
and sweet tea when I want.
Thank you for the ability to preserve
fresh milk,
cheese,
meat,
yogurt,
and leftovers.
Thank you for a level
of comfort and convenience
that could only have been imagined
just a few generations ago.
Amen.