Remove Far From Me

My Lord and my God,
remove far from me
whatever keeps me
from You.

My Lord and my God,
confer upon me
whatever enables me
to reach You.

My Lord and my God,
free me from self
and make me
wholly Yours.

(a prayer of Nicholas of Flue (1447-1487))

Be For Me the Way

Lord Jesus,
be for me the way to Abba, Father.
Be for me all my truth
and all my life.
Lead me into the crucified life,
which is the real life, the eternal.
Lead me away
from every lesser thing.
By Your love, renew my inner being
so that I can receive Your love,
and know it truly,
and be Your love to others.
Amen.

(a prayer of Brennan Manning, from The Ragamuffin Gospel)

No More Mr. Nice Guy

Dear God, I want to quit being “nice." I don’t want to pretend to be something I’m not, or to feel something I don’t. I don’t want to play a role. No charades. No facade. No mask. I want to be honest about who I am, and even honest about the progress I have yet to make. I want to learn to be real. I want to go through life loving others from the center of who I am, not faking it.

You know my fears. You know my hesitations. You know my need. Please help me to live in the light of your love. Help me to become a more open, loving and authentic person, as I make you Lord of my life, day by day, Amen.

(from the upcoming book, Quit Going to Church, by Bob Hostetler (Leafwood Publishers))

Let Grace Abound

More

God, help me to live
more like I pray,
to pray
more like I preach,
to preach
more like I desire,
and to desire
more like you require,
in Jesus' name,
amen.

A Writer's Thanks

Gracious Lord,
thank you for the joy of writing.
For the honor of being published.
For the blessing of being used.
The miracle of being paid.
The wonder of being read.
The blessing of my words being translated
and traveling around the world.
Amen.

A Prayer of Samuel Logan Brengle

O Jesus, Savior, how I bless Thee that Thou didst seek me when lost and far from Thee and altogether unlike Thee, and didst woo me, and win me, and lead me to Thyself, and reveal Thyself to me, and make me to know Thee, and ravish my heart, and humble my pride with the joy and love and glory that that best of all knowledge brings! Still reveal Thyself, O Lord, to Thy people, that they may know Thee, and glorify Thee and be satisfied with Thy lovingkindness, and fill the earth with Thy fame!

(a prayer of Samuel Logan Brengle, from chapter 10 of Heart Talks on Holiness)

A Prayer for All Saints Day

Father, All-Powerful and ever-living God,
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)

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.