All My Springs

All my springs are in you (Psalm 87:7, ESV).
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.

Renew

 

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

Grant me a 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)

Straight and Smooth

 

For the Fullness of Your Spirit

 

The Lord is my Shepherd

So to Live with the Father

 

Nothing Gets Lost

 

Without Veneer

Lord God,
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

Help us 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

O God, we hold in your presence
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.

Closer Walk

Stream

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 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)

Down the Unknown Corridor

Guide us, we pray, down the unknown corridor of this day and every day. Lead us, each one, to the one door of all the many doors that thou wouldst . . . open. Give us courage to speak there the word that thou wouldst have us speak of love and healing. Give us ears to hear thee speak at every turning of the way—to listen, to listen, to hear, and to obey, even when the heart within us faints. Help us to live this day as though it were the first of all our days or the last of all our days. Amen.

(a prayer by Frederick Buechner, from his book, The Hungering Dark)

Peace