James 5:15-16
And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
More thanks are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of;
Wherefore, let thy voice rise like a fountain for me night and day.
For what are men better than sheep or goats
That nourish a blind life within the brain.
If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer
Both for themselves and those who call them friends,
For so the whole round earth is every way
Bound by gold chains about the feet of God.
Alfred Lord Tennyson
PRAYERS IN CRISIS
O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. O our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give if forever to the descendants of Abraham, your friend?...
But now here are men from Ammon, and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow to invade when they came from ; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them. See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance? O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.
King Jehoshaphat
2 Chronicles 20:6-12 NIV
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One again, our Father, our nation is sobered in the reflection that death is in the midst of life. Since we know not at what moment the slender thread may be broken for us, teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. And may we be compassionate, remembering the hearts that are sore and our brethren who languish in sorrow and affliction.
Take from us the selfishness that is unwilling to bear the burdens of others while expecting that others shall help us with ours. Make us so disgusted with our big professions and our little deeds, our fine words and our shabby thoughts, our friendly faces and our cold hearts, that we shall pray sincerely this morning for a new spirit and new attitudes. Then shall our prayers mean something, not alone to ourselves but to our nation. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Peter Marshall
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When I see you I heaven I shall be filled with joy, and you will give me rest. I shall no longer have to live in this world and watch my people suffering, your churches destroyed, your altars overthrown, the weak abuses…
Yet I intend to remain firm in my faith, and to walk bravely along the path which you have marked out for me…You will allow me to lead my brethren into that life in which there are no cares, no anxieties; where there is neither persecutors or persecuted, neither oppressor nor oppressed, neither tyrant nor victim.
This day, the day of my death, I shall not stumble as I walk the way you have set before me because you shall hold me up. My weary limbs will find strength in you, and the grief in my heart will be forgotten…You will wipe away the tears from my eyes and fill me with joy.
Simon the Persian
The above is an excerpt from a prayer offered by Simon before he was burned at the stake, A.D. 339.
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Take my hand, Precious Lord,
Lead me on, let me stand.
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn.
Through the storm, through the night, lead me on to the light.
Take my hand, Precious Lord, lead me home.
When my way grows drear, Precious Lord, linger near
When my life is almost gone.
Hear my cry, hear my call, hold my hand, lest I fall.
Take my hand, Precious Lord, lead me home.
When the darkness appears and the night draws near
And the day is past and gone,
At the river I stand
Guide my feet, hold my hand.
Take my hand, Precious Lord, lead me home.
Thomas Dorsey
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Dear Master of the Wind and Waves, help me when the sudden storms of life come crashing over me with their fierce winds and frothing waves. I have seen enough storms, Lord, to know how quickly peaceful circumstances can turn into catastrophe.
I have seen the strong become weak with disease. I have seen the freest of spirits become enslaved with addiction. I have seen the brightest of stars fall like meteors in a streak of dying fame.
I have seen respected preachers and politicians disgraced to become the laughingstocks of the land.
I have seen banks go bankrupt, their riches taken wings on the updrafts of plummeting markets. I have seen fortunes lost in gold, silver and precious stones. I have seen dynamics of oil, real estate, and stocks swept overboard to the bottom of the sea.
I have seen the faithful lose faith. I have seen happy marriages with hopeful beginnings end up on the rocks of infidelity. And I have seen prodigals blown off course to sink in a sea of sin.
Yes, Lord, I have seen a lot of storms. Too many of other people’s to feel untouchable. Too many of my own to feel critical or proud or unsympathetic.
Some dear people I love, Lord, are going through some tempestuous times right now. Help them to see you in the midst of their storms – you who rule the wind and waves with only a word. And help them to see that no matter how devastating the storm that sweeps over them, you do care if they drown. Help them not to be hasty in judging your concern for them during those times when their lives seem to be sinking and you seem to be asleep at the stern.
Help them to see that you allow storms in their lives to strengthen them – not to shipwreck them. And help them to see that it is you who not only points out the direction their lives should take but who rides with them to hasten their safe passage.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for being there during their individual storms. And when uncertain seas unsettle their faith, turn their attention to you so that the tempest in their souls might be quieted and made still.
Ken Gire
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O Lord, great distress has come upon me; my cares threaten to crush me; and I do not know what to do. O Lord, be gracious to me and help me. Give me strength to bear what you send, and do not let fear rule over me…Whether I live or die, I am with you, and you, my God, are with me. Lord, I wait for your salvation and for your kingdom.
Deitrich Bonhoeffer
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Dear God, out of necessity the announcement was casual. How else can a doctor break the news, “You have a tumor?” Momentarily my world was shattered. Outwardly there were few signs…, but inwardly things began to churn. I had promised to go to a luncheon, but how should I act? As if nothing had happened?
The doctor urged me to go to the hospital immediately. I told him I couldn’t! I had plans and commitments. We compromised. I would fulfill some major commitments and then check into the hospital.
On Monday we headed for the hospital. The examination by a specialist there confirmed the doctor’s suspicion – it was a malignant tumor. Now, three days later…I’m to be operated on. You have consistently covered me with the wings of your Spirit! I’ve had my dips, but always underneath were your everlasting arms.
Now I want to witness to what it means to trust you in such a time. I want to tell the world what freedom there is in being able to say, “Whether I live or die, I am the Lord’s.” I love life, Lord, and if you should give me more time, I would want to be about your business. But God, if this is the time you tap me on the shoulder, what anticipations are mine! Sometimes I try to imagine the beauty and wonder of it. You’ve told us that it’s beyond human comprehension and your Son has shown us the way…He said, “Whoever believes in me will live, even though he dies.”
Thank you for your forgiveness! I’m ready, Lord, for whatever tomorrow might hold. Precious Lord, take my hand.
Ruth Youngdahl Nelson (excerpted)
Ruth was voted Mother of the Year in 1973
PRAYERS OF PRAISE AND WORSHIP
O’ Lord, Thou has searched me, and known me.
Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my easy.
For there is not a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.
Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
Whither shall I go from they spirit? Or whither shall I feel from thy presence?
If I ascend up into heaven, behold thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
Yea, the darkness shall cover me; but the night shineth as the day; the darkness and light are both alike to thee…
How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O Lord! How great is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand; when I awake I am still with thee…
Search me, O Lord, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts;
And see if there be any wicke4d way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
David
Psalm 139 (NIV)
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All praise to Thee, my God, this night
For all the blessings of the light;
Keep me, O keep me, King of Kings,
Beneath Thine own almighty wings.
Forgive me, Lord, for Thy dear Son,
The ill that I this day have done,
That with the world, myself and Thee,
I, ere I sleep, at peace may be.
Teach me to live that I may dread
Thy grace as little as my bed
Teach me to die that so I may
Rise glorious at the judgment day.
O may my soul on Thee repose,
And with sweet sleep mine eyelids close
Sleep that may me more vigorous make
To serve my God when I awake.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him all creatures here below;
Praise Him above ye heavenly host
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Thomas Ken
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Now undo him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end.
Paul, the apostle
Ephesians 3:20-21 (KJV)
PRAYERS OF SURRENDER
Lord, we do not know what this life has in store for us, but be it good or bad, we are willing to be used by You. Use us until that moment comes when we go from service good to service best – when You begin to use us in glory.
Corrie ten Boom
Corrie wrote this prayer in a Nazi prison camp on a day when she believed she would be exterminated. A Dutch girl asked her, “How do you know all this that you have told me about Jesus?” Corrie told her that she got it from the Bible. The girl placed her faith in the Lord Jesus as they stood together that morning. Then, instead of being killed, Corrie was set free.
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God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.
Christoph Friedrich
(Pastor, 1782)
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Lord, whose spirit is so good and so gentle in all things, and who art so compassionate that not only all prosperity but even all afflictions that come to Thine elect are the result of thy compassion. Grant me grace that I may not do as the pagans do in the condition to which thy justice has reduced me; grant that as a true Christian, I may recognize thee as my Father and as my God in whatever estate I find myself, since the change in my condition brings no change in thine own…Grant then, Lord, that I may conform to thy will, just as I am, that being sick as I am, I may glorify thee in my sufferings.
Blaise Pascal
This was Pascal’s prayer when he learned his illness would lead to death.
PRAYERS OF THANKSGIVING
This poem was written by a father after cancer claimed his wife.
Thanks be unto Thee, O God, for every good and perfect gift from the treasury of heaven. We thank Thee for daily necessities, for without them we cannot live. But in a special way we thank Thee for the niceties of life: for music – those who compose and those who sing and play; for the paintings of the artist; the writing of the poets and philosophers; the publishers of newspapers and magazines. We give Thee grateful praise for those who are dedicating their scientific talents for the improvement of life: the chemists, physicists, architects and engineers – whose daily endeavors will be responsible for the new conveniences and beauties of tomorrow. For all these, and every other unremembered gift, we praise Thy holy name, and pray through Christ our Lord.
William Kadel
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PRAYERS FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH
Blessed Creator,
Thou hast promised thy beloved sleep
Give me restoring rest needful for tomorrow’s toil.
If dreams be mine, let them not be tinged with evil.
Let thy Spirit make my time of repose a blessed temple of his holy presence.
May my frequent lying down make me familiar with death,
The bed I approach remind me of the grave,
The eyes I now close picture to me their final closing.
Keep me always ready, waiting for admittance to thy presence.
Weaken my attachment to earthly things.
May I hold life loosely in my hand?
Knowing that I receive it on condition of its surrender;
As pain and suffering betoken transitory health,
May I not shrink from a death
That introduces me to the freshness of eternal youth.
I retire this night in full assurance of one day awaking with thee.
All glory for this precious hope
For Thine unspeakable gift of Jesus,
For the fellowship of the Trinity.
Withhold not thy mercies in the night season;
Thy hand never wearies
Thy power needs no repose
Thine eye never sleeps.
Help me when I helpless lie,
When my conscious accuses me of sin,
When my mind is harassed by foreboding thoughts,
When my eyes are held awake by personal anxieties.
Show thyself to me as the God of all grace, love and power;
Thou hast a balm for every wound,
A solace for all anguish
A remedy for every pain
A peace for all disquietude.
Permit me to commit myself to thee awake or asleep.
Puritan Prayer
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O eternal God, though Thou art not such as I can see with my eyes or touch with my hands, yet grant me this day a clear conviction of Thy reality and power. Let me not go forth to my work believing only in the world of sense and time, but give me grace to understand that the world I cannot see or touch is the most real world of all. My life today will believed in time, but eternal issues will be concerned in it. The needs of my body will claim attention, but it is for the needs of my soul that I must care most. My business will be with things material, but behind them let me be aware of things spiritual.
O God, who dwellest in light unapproachable, yet also lives within me, give me grace today to recognize the stirrings of Thy Spirit within my soul and to listen most attentively to all that Thou has to say to me. Let not the noises of the world ever so confuse me that I cannot hear Thee speak, and suffer me never to deceive myself as to the meaning of Thy commands.
I thank Thee, O Lord, that thou hast so set eternity within my heart that no earthly thing can ever satisfy me wholly. I thank Thee that every present job is so mixed with sadness and unrest as to lead my mind upwards to the contemplation of a more perfect blessedness. And above all I thank Thee for the sure hope and promise of an endless life which thou hast given me in the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ my Lord.
John Baille
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Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.
O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Francis of Assisi
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Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
Father of epileptic boy
Mark 9:24 (KJV)
When this father made his plea, Jesus answered that all things are possible to those who believe.
PRAYERS FOR CONFESSION
O Heavenly Father, we have loved Thee but not enough, we have sought Thee but not diligently, we have seen but not perceived, we have heard but not understood, we have hoped for things heavenly, but clung to things of earth, and our hearts have been far from Thee, the Holy One. Draw them now in mercy unto Thyself, O God, that the time to come be not as the past, but that, finding, perceiving, understanding, and loving Thee, we may have rest and joy undisturbed forevermore.
Anonymous
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O God, our leader and master and our friend, forgive our imperfections and our little motives; take us and make us one with Thy great purpose, use us and do not reject us, make us all servants of Thy kingdom. Weave our lives into Thy struggle to conquer and to bring peace and union to the world.
We are small and feeble creatures; we are feeble in speech, feebler still in action, nevertheless let but Thy light shine upon us, and there is not one of us who cannot be lit by Thy fire and who cannot lose himself in Thy salvation. Take us into Thy purposes, O God. Let Thy kingdom come into our hearts and into this world.
H.G. Wells
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My eyes are dry, my faith is old,
My heart is hard, my prayers are cold.
And I know how I ought to be 0
Alive to You and dead to me.
Oh, what can be done with an old heart like mine?
Soften it up with oil and wine!
The oil is You, Your Spirit of love,
Please wash me anew in the wine of Your blood.
Keith Green
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Forgive us, O God, for our small concept of the heart of the Eternal, for the doubting suspicion with which we regard the heart of God.
Give to us more faith. We have so little, we say. Yet we have faith in each other – in checks and banks, in trains and airplanes, in cooks, and in strangers who drive us in cabs. Forgive us for our stupidity, that we have faith in people whom we do not know, and are so reluctant to have faith in Thee who knowest us altogether.
We are always striving to find a complicated way through life when Thou has a plan, and we refuse to walk in it. So many of our troubles we bring on ourselves. How silly we are…
Wilt thou give to us that faith that we can deposit in the bank of Thy love, so that we may receive the dividends and interest that Thou art so willing to give us. We ask it all in the lovely name of Jesus Christ our Savior, Amen.
Peter Marshall
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O Sacred Head, now wounded, with grief and shame weighted down,
Now scornfully surrounded with thorns, Thine only crown;
O sacred Head, what glory, what bliss till now was Thine!
Yet, though despised and glory, I joy to call Thee mine.
What Thou, my Lord, has suffered was all for sinners’ gain;
Mine, mine was the transgression, but Thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior! ‘Tis I deserve Thy place;
Look on me with Thy favor, vouchsafe to me Thy grace.
What language shall I borrow to thank Thee, dearest Friend;
For this Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever, and should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to Thee.
Be near me when I’m dying, I show Thy cross to me;
And for my succor flying, come, Lord, to set me free.
These eyes, new faith receiving, from Jesus shall not move;
For he who dies believing, dies safely through Thy love.
Written by Hans Leo Hassler
Arranged by Johann Sebastian Bach the year before his death
PRAYERS OF CONSECRATION
Do you, my God, stand by me, against all the world’s wisdom and reason…I would prefer to have peaceful days and to be out of this turmoil. But yours, O Lord, is this cause…Stand by me, O God, in the name of your death Son, Jesus Christ, who shall be my Defense and Shelter, yes, my Mighty Fortress through the might and strength of your Holy Spirit.
Martin Luther
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Use me, my Savior, for whatever purpose and in whatever way you may require. Here is my poor heart, an empty vessel; fill it with your grace. Here is my sinful and troubled soul; quicken it and refresh it with your love. Take my heart for your abode; my mouth to spread abroad the glory of your name; my love and all my powers for the advancement of your believing people, and never allow the steadfastness and confidence of my faith to abate.
Dwight L. Moody
PRAYERS FOR LOVE AND KINDNESS
More love to Thee, O Christ,
More love to Thee.
Hear Thou the prayer I make
On bended knee;
This is my earnest plea-
More love, O Christ, to Thee,
More love to Thee.
Let sorrow to do its work,
Send grief and pain;
Sweet are Thy messengers,
Sweet their refrain,
When they can sing with me,
More love, O Christ, to Thee,
More love to Thee.
E.P. Prentiss
PRAYERS OF DAILY PETITION
I asked You, God, for strength that I might achieve;
I was made weak that I might learn to obey.
I asked for health that I might do greater things;
I was given infirmity that I might do better things.
I asked for riches that I might be happy;
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power that I might have the praise of men;
I was given weakness that I might feel the need for You.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life;
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.
I received nothing that I asked for, but all that I hoped for…
My prayers were answered.
Prayer of an unknown Confederate Soldier
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O God Creator – who spills the firmament into my cup
And trails the stardust through the skies
Who spreads the rainbow ‘mid the rain
And beats the thunder ‘gainst the earth,
Who shakes the clouds until they leak
And sprinkles dew down tiny blades,
Who splashes lighting o’er the hills
And squeezes sunbeams through the fog
Who hides the buds in secret places
And beckons seasons to come forth
Who strikes the hours of night and day
And counts the eggs within a nest
Who plants the coral ‘neath the sea
And strikes aflame some sleeping crater
Who guides the seeds for human life
And leads the dying through the valley
Who lifts the waves upon the seas
And spins the years into eternity –
Touch me again and make my life a miracle.
Jeanette Struchen
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face to shine upon you,
And be gracious unto you.
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The Book of Common Prayer
From the book: A Treasury of Prayers by Stephen Fortosis
Please Pray for Our Troops and Missionaries Around the World.
