Lord, forgive our self-centeredness
and need for control.
Forgive our complacency and
ready acceptance of the world as it is,
without striving to make it what
you created it to be.
The life you give to us
is not just for us,
but for the world.
May we be your blessing, Lord.
-Amen
-Moravian Book of Prayer
O Lord,
I know not what I should ask of thee.
Thou only knowest what I want;
and Thou lovest me better than I can love myself.
O Lord, give to me, Thy child, what is proper,
whatsoever it may be.
I dare not ask either crosses or comforts.
I only present myself before Thee.
I open my heart to Thee.
Behold my wants, which I am ignorant of;
but do Thou behold and do according to Thy mercy.
Smite or heal! Depress or raise me up.
I adore all Thy purposes without knowing them.
I am silent. I offer myself in sacrifice.
I abandon myself to Thee. I have no more any desire
but to accomplish Thy will.
Lord, teach me how to pray.
Dwell Thou Thyself in me by Thy Holy Spirit.
Amen.
-Fenelon 1651-1715
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
we enjoin your divine mercies.
Lord, why do we suffer?
Why do we hurt?
Shall our only answer
be the eternal abyss of the cosmos?
Shall our only answer be the whirlwind of unknowing
which engulfed Job?
Why do the wicked flourish,
while the righteous waste away?
I am left speechless, left with the words,
“I will trust in you, my God.”
God, we ask for the sending of your healing Spirit,
who came to us through Jesus, as he breathed upon his disciples.
This Spirit gathered your people,
to be warmed by the fire of divine presence.
By this warmth, may (name)
be healed and taken into your care.
Like the blind man whom Jesus healed,
may (name) become a sign
of your glory, calling you the Anointed One,
the one who also anoints us and points us to the love of God.
Grants us your healing peace.
Amen.
-Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals
Father, I want to know Thee,
but my cowardly heart fears to give up it’s toys.
I cannot part with them without inward bleeding
and I do not try to hide from Thee the terror of parting.
I come trebling, but I do come.
Please root from my heart all those things which
I have cherished so long and which have become a very
part of my living self, so that Thou mayest enter
and dwell there without a rival.
Then shalt Thou make the place of Thy feet glorious.
Then shall my heart have no need of the sun to shine in it,
for Thyself will be the light of it,
and there will be no night there.
In Jesus name,
Amen.
-A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God
O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth;
I worship Thee. With all the angels and saints I adore Thee.
I acknowledge Thee to be my Creator and my God.
I render Thee the homage of my being and my life.
I am not my own, I am Thine.
I will devote myself to Thy divine service this day and forever.
O gramt me grace for this dear Lord.
Amen.
-Ralph Cushman, Pocket Prayer Book, 1941
May God give a blessing to this house.
God bless this house from roof to floor,
from wall to wall,
from end to end,
from its foundation and in its covering.
In the strong name of the triune God,
all disturbance cease,
captive spirits freed,
God’s Spirit alone
dwell within these walls.
We call up on the Sacred Three
to save, shield and surround
this house, this home,
this day, this night,
and every night.
Amen.
-Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals
Father who breathed into this daughter…
I pray for this girl being formed into eternity.
May the wind always be in her hair
May the sky always be wide with hope above her
And may all the hills be an exhilaration
the trials but a trail,
all the stones but stairs to God.
God, clothe this girl in a gown of grace
Grace,
the only dress that makes beautiful,
the style of Your spirit.
Nourish her on the comfort food of the Word,
Word, that makes her crave more of Christ,
have hunger pangs for Him.
Enclose her in communion with You
You,
Love who makes her love, who folds her heart
into a roof
that absorbs storms for souls,
that makes her tongue speak only the words that make souls stronger.
May her vocation in this world simply be translation.
Translating every enemy into esteemed guest
Translating every countenance into the face of Christ
Translating every burden into blessing
When it’s hard to be patient… make her willing to suffer
When it’s ridiculous to be thankful … make her see all is grace
When it’s radical to forgive … make her live the foundation of our faith
And when it’s time to work… make her a holy wonder.
May she be bread and feed many with her life and her laughter
May she be thread and mend brokeness and knit hearts
May she be dead to all ladders & never go higher,
only lower, to the lonely, the least & the longing
Her led of the Spirit to lead many to the Cross
that leads to the tomb wildly empty.
Oh, and raise me, Lord, from the deadness of my own sins
to love this beautiful girl like You do…
In the name of Christ who rose
and appeared first
to one of His daughters…
Amen.
-Ann Voskamp
Dear Christ,
help me to take the common things of life and make them beautiful.
Help me to do this today. Let me not wait until tomorrow, or next week,
or next summer for my joy; help me to find it today in the common task,
in accustomed places, with the comrades of my home or market place.
But I cannot do it alone. Dear Christ, I cannot do it alone. Stay Thou
near by. Thou alone canst glorify the beautiful drudergy of life. Thou
alone canst turn valleys into mountaintops. In Thy presecne is fullness
of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures morning, noon and night.
Spirit of Jesus, help me to be a good steward of Thy presence all the day.
Amen.
-Ralph Cushman, A Pocket Prayer Book, 1941
Dear gracious and loving God,
Help me see what I don’t sometimes see.
Show me needs and how I might meet them.
Give me your love in extraordinary measure,
And then guide me how and where to express it.
When I share my table,
my home,
or my life,
bless me with your bounty.
For what I have is yours;
and what I give to others
Is you.
Amen.
-The Paraclete Book of Hospitality
“O Lord Jesus Christ,
who dost embrace children with the arms of thy mercy,
and dost make them living members of thy Church;
Give this child grace, we pray thee,
to stand fast in thy faith,
to obey thy word,
and to abide in thy love;
that, being made strong by the Holy Spirit,
she may resist temptation and overcome evil,
and may rejoice in the life that now is,
and dwell with thee in the life that is to come;
through thy merits, O merciful Savior,
who with the Father and the Holy Ghost
livest and reignest one God,
world without end.
Amen.
-1928 Book of Common Prayer
peacocks for pilgrims 