An Anthology of Prayer
O God, the living God, who has
put your own eternity in our hearts,
and has made us to hunger and
thirst after you. Satisfy, we pray you, the
instincts which you have implanted in
us, that we may find you in life,
and life in you,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Anon
O Lord, help us to turn and seek you; for you
have not forsaken your creatures as we have
forsaken you, our Creator Let us turn and seek you,
for we know you are here in our hearts when we
confess to you, when we cast ourselves on you and
weep because of our evil ways. You gently wipe away
our tears and we weep all the more for joy because
you, Lord, who made us, remake and comfort us
Hear, Lord, my prayer, and grant that
I may love you completely
St. Augustine
My God, I pray that I may so know you
and love you that I may rejoice in you
And if I may not do so fully in this life, let me go steadily on
to the day when I come to that fullness.
Let the knowledge of you increase in me here,
and there let it come to its fullness
Let your love grow in me here, and there let It be fulfilled,
so that here my joy may be in a great hope,
and there in full reality
Anselm
Thank you, good Lord, thank you,
for it was by your gift that I first believed,
and now by your illumination I understand.
Anselm
Thanks be to thee, Lord Jesus Christ,
for all the benefits which thou hast won for us,
for all the pains and insults which thou hast borne for us.
O most merciful Redeemer,
Friend and Brother,
may we know thee more clearly,
love thee more dearly
and follow thee more nearly day by day
Richard of Chichester
Lord, I do not know what I ought to ask of you;
you alone know what I need; you love me better
than I know how to love myself 0 Father, give to your
child that for which he himself knows not how to ask
I dare not ask either for crosses or consolations, I
simply present myself to you, I open my heart to you
Behold my needs which I know not myself, see and do
according to your tender mercy Let me suffer, or heal;
cast me down, 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 yourself in me
François de Ia Mathe Fenelon
O Lord God, who never failest both
to hear and to answer the prayer
that is sincere: Let not our hearts be
upon the world when our hands are
lifted up to pray nor our prayers end
upon our lips, but go forth with power
to work thy will in the world, through
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Eric Milner-White
Almighty and merciful God, the fountain of all
goodness, who knows the thoughts of our
hearts, we confess that we have sinned against you,
and done what you see as evil. Wash us, we implore
you, from the stains of our past sins, and give us grace
and power to put away all hurtful things so that,
being delivered from the bondage of sin, we may
produce the good fruits of repentance.
Alcuin
Forgive me my sins, 0 Lord; forgive me the sins
of my youth and the sins of mine age, the sins of
my soul, and the sins of my body, my secret and my
whispering sins, my presumptuous and my crying
sins, the sins that I have done to please myself, and
the sins that I have done to please others. Forgive me
those sins which I know, and those sins which I know
not, forgive them, 0 Lord,
forgive them all of thy great goodness.
Private Devotions 1560
Grant us, O Lord Christ, to desire to have you as
our Saviour, not in the next world, but in this,
that you will change and alter all that is within us, as
you helped the blind to see and the lame to walk, that
your nature may be formed and created in our hearts,
your humility and self-denial, your love of the Father,
the desire of doing his will and seeking only his
honour; that so the kingdom of God may be in us now,
and our possession for ever, world without end
Deliver me, O God, from all idolatrous love of any creature.
Preserve me from all such blind affection
Be a guard to all my desire And be my security
that I may never open my heart to anything
but out of love to you.
John Wesley
Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ before me, Christ beside me
Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger
Attributed to St. Patrick of Ireland
Give me your strength; give me your love; and be
the motive of all the use I make of my
understanding, my affections, my senses, my health,
my time, and whatever other talents I have received
from you. Only thus can I fulfil my duty and your
command of loving you with all my heart, and mind,
and soul and strength.
John Wesley
Stir us up to offer to you, 0 Lord, our
bodies, our souls, our spirits, in all
we love and all we learn, in all we plan
and all we do, to offer our labours, our
pleasures, our sorrows to you, to work
through them for your Kingdom, to live
as those who are not their own, but
bought with your blood
Charles Kingsley
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled, as to console;
To be understood, as to understand,
To be loved, as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying that we are born
To eternal life
Francis of Assisi
O God of all the nations of the earth, remember
the multitudes who, though created in your
image, have not known you, nor the dying of your Son
their Saviour Jesus Christ Grant that by the prayers
and work of your holy church they may be delivered
from all ignorance and unbelief, and brought to
worship you; through him whom you have sent to be
the resurrection and the life of all people, your Son
Jesus Christ our Lord
Francis Xavier
The most direct way to others is always through prayer.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Father, who hast made all men in thy likeness
and lovest all whom thou hast made,
suffer not our family to separate itself from thee
by building barriers of race and colour.
As thy Son, our Saviour, was born of a Hebrew mother,
but rejoiced in the faith of a Syrian woman
and of a Roman soldier,
welcomed the Greeks who sought him,
and suffered a man from Africa to carry his cross,
so teach us to regard the members of all races
as fellow-heirs of the kingdom of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Toc H Prayer
O Lord, the author and persuader of peace, love
and goodwill, soften our hard and steely
hearts, warm our icy and frozen hearts, that we may
wish one another well, and may be the true disciples
of Jesus Christ. And give us grace even now to begin
to display that heavenly life in which there is no
disagreement or hatred, but peace and love on all
hands, one towards another.
Ludovicus Vives
O Lord, help us to forgive as we
would be forgiven; neither
mentioning old offences committed
against us, nor dwelling upon them in
thought, nor being influenced by them in
heart; but loving our brother freely as
you freely loved us.
Christina Rossetti
Lord, make possible for me by grace what is
impossible to me by nature You know that I am
not able to endure very much, and that I am downcast
by the slightest difficulty Grant that for your sake
I may come to love and desire any hardship that puts
me to the test, for salvation is brought to my soul
when I undergo suffering and trouble for you.
Thomas a Kempis
Almighty God, have mercy on us, who, when
troubled with the things that are past, lose
faith, and life, and courage, and hope. So have mercy
on us, and uphold us, that we, being sustained by a
true faith that you are merciful and forgiving, may go
on in the life of the future to keep your commandments,
to rejoice in your generosity to trust in your mercy
and to hope in eternal life Grant to all of us, whatever
may happen to us, to remember always that it is all of
your guidance, under your care, by your will; that so,
in darkest days, seeing you we may have courage to
go on, faith to endure, patience to bear, and
hopefulness to hold out, even to the end
George Dawson
Some Prayers from the Book of Common Prayer
ALMIGHTY God, Father of all mercies, we thine unworthy servants do give thee most humble and hearty thanks for all thy goodness and loving-kindness to us, and to all people. We bless thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all, for thine inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we beseech thee, give us that due sense of all thy mercies, that our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful, and that we shew forth thy praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives; by giving up ourselves to thy service, and by walking before thee in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with thee and the
Holy Ghost be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.
O GOD, the Creator and Preserver of all mankind, we humbly beseech thee for all sorts and conditions: that thou wouldest be pleased to make thy ways known unto them, thy saving health unto all nations. More especially, we pray for the good estate of the Catholick Church; that it may be so guided and governed by thy good Spirit, that all who profess and call themselves Christians may be led into the way of truth, and hold the faith in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life. Finally, we commend to thy fatherly goodness all those, who are any ways afflicted, or distressed, in mind, body, or estate; that it may please thee to comfort and relieve them, according to their several necessities, giving them patience under their sufferings, and a happy issue out of all their afflictions. And this we beg for Jesus Christ his sake. Amen.
A Prayer of St. Chrysostom.
ALMIGHTY God, who hast given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplications unto thee; and dost promise, that when two or three are gathered together in thy Name thou wilt grant their requests; Fulfil now, O Lord, the desires and petitions of thy servants, as may be most expedient for them; granting us in this world knowledge of thy truth, and in the world to come life everlasting. Amen.
A Collect from Morning Prayer
O LORD, our heavenly Father, Almighty and everlasting God, who hast safely brought us to the beginning of this day; Defend us in the same with thy mighty power; and grant that this day we fall into no sin, neither run into any kind of danger; but that all our doings may be ordered by thy governance, to do always that is righteous in thy sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
2 Corinthians xiii.
THE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore. Amen.
Hear our humble prayer, 0 God, for our friends the animals, especially for animals who are suffering; for any that are hunted or lost or deserted or frightened or hungry;
for all that must be put to death.
We entreat for them all thy mercy and pity and for those
who deal with them we ask a heart of compassion,
gentle hands and kindly words.
Make us ourselves to be true friends to animals and so to share the blessing of the merciful.
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Albert Schweitzer
reminds us that we share this planet !
And to close ..........
May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
the rains fall soft upon your fields
and, until we meet again, may God
hold you in the palm of His hand.
A Celtic Prayer
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