One Prayer a Day

By the Other Light Supreme

Lord, loosen in me the hold of visible things;
Help me to walk by faith and not by sight;
I would, through thickest veils and coverings,
See into the chambers of the living light.

Lord, in the land of things that swell and seem,
Help me to walk by the other light supreme,
Which shows Thy facts behind man's vaguely hinting dream.

(a prayer by George MacDonald, from The Diary of an Old Soul; photo by Arcaion via pixabay.com)

Thank You for Summer

Father, Creator of all,

thank You for summer!

Thank You for the warmth of the sun and the increased daylight.

Thank You for the beauty I see all around me and for the opportunity to be outside and enjoy Your creation.

Thank You for the increased time I have to be with my friends and family, and for the more casual pace
of the summer season.

Draw me closer to You this summer.

Teach me how I can pray no matter
where I am or what I am doing.

Warm my soul with the awareness of
Your presence and light my path with
Your Word and Counsel.

As I enjoy Your creation, create in
me a pure heart and a hunger
and a thirst for You.
Amen.

(author unknown; image by jonathansautter via pixabay.com)

Good Good Father

Further Grace

O God, I have tasted your goodness and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune god, I want to want you; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me your glory, I pray, so that I may know you indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, “Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.” Then give me grace to rise and follow you up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

(a prayer of A. W. Tozer, revised slightly; photo by Free-Photos via pixabay.com)

Preserve

For A/C

Lord, for the minds that created air conditioning

and the difference it makes in my life,

I give you thanks.

Amen.

(photo illustration by santiagotorrescl95 via pixabay.com)

Inheritance

Actiones Nostras

We beg You, O Lord, to initiate and anticipate our actions,

and help us in them and follow up on them,

so that our every service always flows from You,

and all we begin is brought to conclusion through You.

Amen.

(from the Gregorian Sacramentary; photo by cocoparisienne via pixabay.com)

Thin Place

O God,

make of my heart,

my marriage,

my family,

my home,

and my church,

a thin place.

Amen.

(based on an incident related to Evelyn Underhill by a friend who had been to the Isle of Iona and there heard a local gardener say, “Iona is a very thin place.” She asked, “What do you mean?” The gardener, a Scotsman, said, “It's a thin place, because there is not much between Iona and the Lord”; photo by mcbeaner via pixabay.com)

The Blessing

Lord of My Life, Whose Tender Care

Lord of my life, whose tender care

Has led me on till now,

Here lowly at the hour of prayer

Before your throne I bow;

I bless your gracious hand, and pray

Forgiveness for another day.

Oh, may I daily, hourly, strive

In heavenly grace to grow;

To you and to your glory live,

Dead to all else below;

Tread in the path my Savior trod,

Though thorny, yet the path to God.

With prayer my humble praise I bring

For mercies day by day;

Lord! teach my heart your love to sing,

Lord! teach me how to pray;

And all I am, and all I own,

Entrust to you alone.

(a prayer by an anonymous hymnwriter, slightly updated and revised; photo by josemdelaa via pixabay.com)

My Lamp and Light

For Miles

Lord, thank you for my first grandchild,

my grandson,

Miles Jacob Hostetler, who turns fourteen years old today.

Thank you for all you have made him to be:

healthy, strong, charming, sweet, sensitive, smart, wonderful.

Thank you for all you have given him:

caring, wise, attentive, loving parents,

a sister who loves him and will even say so,

a family that loves to be around him and spend time with him,

an active and brilliant mind,

a fascination with bugs and beasts and birds,

and a warm home, good school, and lovely church.

Thank you that he's so great as to make missing him so hard.

Thank you that he's growing so fast and learning so much

as to make me insanely jealous of those who get to watch it happen day by day and week by week.

Thank you that for the earliest years of his life I got to see him so often, almost daily at times.

Thank you that I'll get to see him soon, by your leave.

And thank you that even with the physical distance between us, we still enjoy a closeness that brings tears to my eyes.

Please bless him mightily on his birthday, and on every day that follows it.

Please shine on him, smile on him, and slather him with your favor.

Please preserve his sweetness even as he grows up.

Please give him a great summer this year, and a blessed rest-of-the-year.

Please grant that he may grow in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

Please draw him and keep him close to you,

and grant his every need

and make his dreams come true,

in Jesus' name, amen.

Let Me Hear in the Morning

Nourishment

Give me that food, Lord,

the nourishment your first disciples knew nothing about (John 4:32);

give it to me daily,

momently,

now,

that sustenance that comes from communion with the Father,

and extending life to others,

amen.

(photo via everystockphoto.com)

Hidden

I Know Thee Who Thou Art

Maranatha

Come, Lord Jesus.

Come quickly.

Come to your church.

Come to us, the smug, the self-righteous.

Come to us, the arrogant and self-satisfied.

Come to us, the hurting who in their pain hurt others.

Come to the preachers with poison ideas and careless tongues.

Come to the misogynist and racist.

Come to the small-minded,

to the legalistic,

to the power hungry,

to the unforgiving.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

Come save us.

Transform us.

Before we do worse.

Amen.

On My 44th Wedding Anniversary

O Lord God,

it's so hard to believe how long--

and how high and wide and deep--

you have blessed me with my bride,

my wife, the lovely Robin:

through forty-four years of marriage,

and forty-seven years together.

Thank you for yet another year of life together.

Thank you for her faithful,

giving,

loving,

kind,

passionate,

sweet,

constant heart.

Thank you for all

the happiness we've known together;

the sorrows we've faced together;

the children we've raised together

and the grandchildren we've been so wonderfully given.

Thank you for our home,

health,

laughter,

hopes and dreams,

our unfinished plans,

and our small accomplishments.

Thank you that she has stuck with me, never wavering in her support.

Thank you that I can still make her laugh, usually.

Thank you that she grows more beautiful every day.

Thank you for all of her perfections,

and all of my improvements.

Spare us another year to walk together,

and grant that for us it may be true

that the best is yet to be,

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Doors

Lord God Adonai,

you open doors that no one can shut (Revelation 3:8),

and shut doors that no one can open.

I am waiting.

I am watching.

I am ready.

Just please don't let me try to do your job

instead of mine,

in Jesus' name, amen.

What I Ought to Ask

Lord, I know not what I ought to ask of You,

You alone know what I need;

You love me better than I know how to love myself.

Father! Give to Your child that which he himself knows not how to ask.

I dare not ask either for crosses or consolations;

I simply present myself before You.

I open my heart to You.

Behold my need, which I know not myself;

see and do according to Your tender mercy.

Smile or heal, depress me, or raise me up;

I adore all Your purposes without knowing them:

I am silent;

I offer myself in sacrifice;

I yield myself to You,

I would have no other desire than to accomplish Your will.

Teach me to pray. Pray in me.

(a prayer by François Fénelon, updated with contemporary language)

On June 1

Thank you, God, that

"There is no price set on the lavish summer,

And June may be had by the poorest comer."

(from "The Vision of Sir Launfal" by James Russell Lowell)

A Memorial Day Prayer

In the quiet sanctuaries of our own hearts,
let each of us name and call on
the One whose power over us
is great and gentle,
firm and forgiving,
holy and healing…

You who created us,
who sustain us,
who call us to live in peace,
hear our prayer this day.

Hear our prayer for all who have died,
whose hearts and hopes are known to you alone…

Hear our prayer for those who put the welfare of others
ahead of their own
and give us hearts as generous as theirs…

Hear our prayer for those who gave their lives
in the service of others,
and accept the gift of their sacrifice…

Help us to shape and make a world
where we will lay down the arms of war
and turn our swords into ploughshares
for a harvest of justice and peace…

Comfort those who grieve the loss of their loved ones
and let your healing be the hope in our hearts...

Hear our prayer this day
and in your mercy answer us
in the name of all that is holy.

Amen.

(from the Concord Pastor blog)

Blessed Trinity

Disturb Us

Disturb us, Lord,

when we are too well pleased with ourselves,

when our dreams have come true

because we have dreamed too little,

when we arrived safely

because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord,

when with the abundance of things we possess

we have lost our thirst for the waters of life;

having fallen in love with life,

we have ceased to dream of eternity,

and in our efforts to build a new earth,

we have allowed our vision

of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord,

to dare more boldly,

to venture on wider seas

where storms will show your mastery;

where losing sight of land,

we shall find the stars.

We ask You to push back

the horizons of our hopes;

and to push into the future

in strength, courage, hope, and love.

(attributed to Sir Francis Drake; John Glover painting of Isle of Wight via pixabay.com)

Water and Fire

I praise you today, Lord,

that you walk with me through the waters,

and dance with me in the fire.

I praise you for your presence,

for your faithfulness.

I thank you for this day that you have made,

and all the blessings that fill it,

in Jesus' name, amen.

Within Me

From a Church Door

O God, make the door

wide enough to receive all who need human love and fellowship;

narrow enough to shut out all envy, pride, and strife.

Amen.

(a prayer from St. Stephen's Walbrook in London)

Still So Thankful

So Thankful

We Need Another Pentecost

Be Near

We bring before You,

O God:

the cries of the weary,

the pains of the distressed,

the tears of the tragedies of life,

the anxious hours of the insecure,

the restlessness of the refugees,

the hunger of the oppressed.

Dear God,

be near to each.

Helper of the helpless,

Hope of the homeless,

The Strength of those tossed with tempests,

The Haven of those who sail:

Be all to all.

Be within us, to strengthen us;

without us, to keep us;

above us, to inspire us;

beneath us, to uphold us;

before us, to direct us;

behind us , to propel us;

around us, to sustain us.

Be all to all in present need.

(a prayer of Lancelot Andrewes; photo by jaefrench via pixabay.com)

Creator Praise

Praise to you, Most Holy, Most High; praise and glory to your name.

I praise you for bestowing life on your Creation; for granting reason to humankind, for making us a little lower than you, higher than the animals, for bestowing on us your likeness.

Thank you and praise to you for creating us as volitional creatures, though by that volition we fell.

Thank you for creating us as sensate beings, though in our sinfulness we serve our senses and sensation more than you.

I praise you for making us rational creatures, though our thoughts and imaginings are clouded by sin.

I praise you that you made us feeling, emotional beings, though we do not love you as we ought.

In all your works you are good and great, most excellent and most worthy of praise, which I offer you imperfectly, incompletely, but sincerely, in Jesus' name, amen.

(photo illustration by Glavo via pixabay.com)

Utmost Height

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 the hymn by Johnson Oatman, Jr; photo by Free-Photos via pixabay.com)

My Choice

I choose today, Lord,

to believe in you

and in your good plans for me.

I choose to walk in faith,

not to hurry or panic,

not to fear, not to stress,

but to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord (Exodus 14:13).

(photo via pixabay.com)

Restore

For Our Current and Future Financial Needs

Lord, help us to trust you completely with our current and future financial needs. We have tried to be good and responsible stewards of everything you have given us, and you have blessed our lives in so many ways. Help us not cling to money or material possessions but to hold our hands wide open to you as we acknowledge you as the giver of everything. We love you, and we trust you. Give us the continued grace to honor you by giving you our moments of fear.

(a prayer of Michele Howe, from her book, Strength for All Seasons: A Prayer Devotional; photo illustration by icame via pixabay.com)

As the Deer Longs

English translation: "As the deer longs for running water, so longs my soul for you, O God" (Psalm 42:1).

At Minimum

Lord,
by your great mercy,
by your wonder-working power,
let me not
disappoint you,
frustrate my loved ones,
embarrass the angels,
or vindicate those who expect the worst from me,
in anything I do today,
in Jesus' name,
amen.

My Boat is So Small

Calmed and Quieted

On Level Ground

As Flowers Blossom

We give you everlasting thanks, O God,

For the marvels of your great creation.

As the flowers blossom and bloom around us

We lift our hearts in joy and celebration.

Amen.

(by Joyce Blakney Duerr, in Graces, by June Cotner, 1994, Harper San Francisco; photo taken by Bob Hostetler at the Abbey of Gethsemani)

As for Me

As for me, I trust in you, Lord.

As for me, I will listen to your voice.

As for me, I will bow down to you.

As for me, I will believe you are looking out for me
and taking care of me.

As for me, I will rely on you and on your timing.

As for me, I trust in you (Psalm 55:23).

She Walks in Beauty

Abba, Father,
I don't have to tell you how blessed I am
by the wife you've given to me,
and the kind of mother she has been--
and is--
to our children.

She walks in beauty, like the night
of cloudless climes and starry skies
(to quote Byron).

She showers blessing, like August rain,
on every dry and needy place.

She denies herself, like the pelican of myth,
feeding her loved ones with her own lifeblood.

She fights with passion, like a badger,
to defend and protect her home and family.

What a gift she is to me and to this family.
Lift her up in our love,
encourage her with our gratitude,
and let her feel your favor
flowing through ours,

in Jesus' name, amen.

A Shield About Me

A Prayer to Begin the Workday

Summoned my labor to renew,

And glad to act my part,

Lord, in Thy name my work I do,

And with a single heart.

End of my every action Thou,

In all things Thee I see;

Accept my offered labor now.

I do it unto Thee.

(from a hymn by Charles Wesley)

Nothing Else

O Jesus, Light of Eternal Glory, comfort my wandering soul....Please come to me and make this poor, humble soul glad. Please put out your hand and deliver me from every trap. Please come, for without you there is no joyful day or hour. You are my joy, and without you my heart is empty....

Let others seek pleasures instead of you, but for me nothing else pleases me except you. You are my God, my hope, and my eternal salvation.

(excerpt from The Imitation of Christ: Classic Devotions in Today's Language, by Thomas à Kempis, compiled and edited by James N. Watkins; photo by Tama66 via pixabay.com)

Best Above All Things

Grant me, most sweet and loving Jesus, to rest in you above every person, above all health and beauty, above all glory and honor, above all authority and dignity, above all knowledge and skillfulness, above all riches and arts, above all joy and exaltation, above all fame and praise, above all delights and comfort, above all hope and promise, above all merit and desire, above all gifts and rewards which you give and pour out, and above all joy and jubilation which my mind is able to receive and feel. You reign above angels and archangels, above the army of heaven, above all things visible and invisible, and above everything which you, O my God, are not.

For you, O Lord, my God, are the best above all things; you alone are the most high; you alone are the Almighty and all-comforting; you alone are completely lovely and loving; you alone are the most exalted and most glorious above all things, in whom all things are and were and forever will be, altogether and all-perfect. Everything you give me falls short and is insufficient without you. Whatever you reveal or promise me that is not revealed yet or fully possessed, is not sufficient. Truly my heart cannot truly rest and be content unless it rests in you. You satisfy beyond all gifts and anything people can offer.

(excerpt from The Imitation of Christ: Classic Devotions in Today's Language, by Thomas à Kempis, compiled and edited by James N. Watkins; photo by johnhain via pixabay.com)