Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

A prayer for children and young people





Lord Jesus, we remember how you welcomed children into your presence. You told us we were to become as humble as children to receive your kingdom.

Thank you for the children and young people you give us. We pray for their safety, Lord, in this world. There are so many dangers, some hidden, some open. Please keep them secure in the love of their families, friends, church, and in the wider communities. Please stop the forces of evil from harming these little ones.

We pray for their salvation, Lord, that they would come to know Jesus Christ as their own personal Savior at an early age. We pray that trust in Christ will mature as they grow up and they will know he is Lord of every aspect of their lives. We pray for those who teach children and young people that you will keep them from misusing their positions of trust and that they will not only teach wisely but also be good examples of character and integrity to those they are responsible for.

Lord, give our children and young people good health, good friends, and good desires. Give them the strength to overcome difficulties and to learn from them. May they quickly learn to have positive confidence in themselves, developing the personality and character you have given them.

May they learn to take responsibility at an early age. Give them times of fun and play. May they develop a sense of humor and keep a sense of adventure throughout their whole lives.

 In Jesus’ name, we pray.
Amen.


Source: Martin Manser, 2018. A Book of Prayers. First edition. 

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

God is Near




Alone with none but thee, my God, I journey on my way.

What need I fear, when thou art near, O king of night and day?

More safe am I within thy hand than if a host did round me stand.

Amen

- Columba, a 6th century Irish abbot and missionary    


Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

Living By Prayer




Father,

Teach me to live by prayer. As my heart beats, as I draw each breath, show me what it means to breathe a prayer so I can connect with you. 

Make my heart shape to Your will. Help me see the sin in all that I do and call me back to You. With each step, each breath, guide me to the place that honors You.

Most of all, Lord, may this connection in prayer forge a deep and passionate love for You, my Savior and God. 

With every step, with every moment I move, may I live my life in prayer, by prayer, in prayer. 

Amen.



Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

a prayer of submission



Lord,

I long to be more like Jesus in all my actions and attitudes. 

I submit to your leadership and your lordship.

Help me to live a life of love and service.

Amen.



Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

Now that Thanksgiving is over, we need to continue to give thanks and praise to our most gracious and generous Heavenly Father.  Yes, Father, may our hearts be always rejoicing!  Amen

The source of the power of prayer




Dear God

Help me to realize that though I may at times stumble in trying to find the right words in my prayers, you not only hear my prayers, you understand my prayers. 

Help me to realize that though I may at times lack faith when I pray, the power of prayer is not so much in my faith but in your grace and power.

Help me in my weakness to still pray, knowing that you love to listen and answer my prayers because You love me!

In Jesus' Name

Amen.

Romans 8:26–28 (ESV)

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.



Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

confessions and prayers



Dear Lord,

My belief is in you.
Increase my faith in you.

My trust is in you.
Strengthen me to rely on you (in me) more.

My hope is in you.
Teach me to be patient as I wait.

I love you with all of my heart.
Help me to manifest your love to others.

Amen.


Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

with a grateful heart



Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give Thanks because He has given
Jesus Christ His son

And now let the weak say I am strong
Let the poor say I am rich
Because of what the Lord
Has done for us.

Give thanks
We give thanks to you Lord
Give thanks
We give thanks
Give thanks, give thanks
We give thanks to you Lord.

Amen

- from a song by Don Moen & Paul Baloche    


Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

THE GREAT DISCOVERY



Glorious God,
I bless thee that I kow thee.
I once lived in the world, but was ignorant of it's Creator,
was partaker of they providences, but knew not the Provider,
was blind while enjoying the sunlight,  was deaf to all things spiritual,
with voices all around me.
Understood many things, but had no knowledge of thy ways,
saw the world, but did not see Jesus ony,
Oh happy day, when in thy love's sovereignty thou didst look on me,
and call me by grace.
Then did the dead heart begin to beat,
the darkened eye glimmer with light,
the dull ear catch thy echo, and returned to thee and found thee,
a God ready to hear, willing to save.!


Taken from The Valley of Vision, Puritan Prayers
googleimages.com

A prayer (hymn) when you awake




AWAKE MY SOUL ...

    1 AWAKE, my soul, and with the sun
     Thy daily stage of duty run;
     Shake off dull sloth—and joyful rise
     To pay thy morning sacrifice.

    2 Glory to thee, who safe hast kept,
     And hast refreshed me while I slept:
     Grant, Lord, when I from death shall wake,
     I may of endless life partake.

    3 Direct, control, suggest, this day,
     All I design, or do, or say;
     That all my powers, with all their might,
     In thy sole glory may unite.

Source: Albert Barnes, Albert. 1833. Prayers for the Use of Families (1833) 
----

This prayer is set as a hymn using the Long Meter (L.M.)  poetic meter. It has 8 syllabi for each line. Some of the popular hymns that use this meter are:
1. Jesus shall reign where'er the Sun
2. Just as I AM, without one plea
3. When I survey the wondrous cross



Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

deliver us from the fruit of our egos



Dear Lord,

Make your face to shine upon us.

Give us your peace for our collective good.

Shelter us by your mighty hand and help us in suffering.

And deliver us from pride and envy - the fruit of our egos.

Bless us that we might embrace humility and meekness.

Give peace to us and to all who dwell on the earth.

Help us to know that you are always with us.

Manifest your humble goodness in us and through us.

Amen.


Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

Christ as a light

This is a Celtic prayer, often used in Celtic Christian liturgy

Slowly and with intention, read this prayer being open to being surprised and comforted by the reality of God's divine presence.  Nothing to hype up or conjure.  It is more like waking up, to realize what has been true all along.


Christ, as a light
illumine and guide me.
Christ, as a shield
overshadow me.
Christ under me;
Christ over me;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Be in the heart of each to whom I speak;
in the mouth of each who speaks unto me.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Christ as a light;
Christ as a shield;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.


Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

prayer for a humble heart



You who are over us,
You who are one of us,
You who are also within us,
May all see you-in me also.

May I prepare the way for you,
May I thank you for all
that shall fall to my lot,
May I also not forget the needs of others.

Give me a pure heart-that I may see you.
A humble heart-that I may hear you,
A heart of love-that I may serve you,
A heart of faith-that I may abide in you. Amen.
- Dag Hammarskjøld    


Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

A prayer of thanksgiving




Heavenly Father, I want to express my thankfulness to you for life, for breath, for good friends, for my family, job and home.

I acknowledge that all these are gifts from your hand. Forgive me that I take them for granted so much. You are so good!

I thank you most of all for Jesus Christ, my Savior and Lord. I thank you for his closeness, for his love, for his standing by me through the good times, the bad times, and just the ordinary times … and even when I fail.

I thank you that you don’t give up on me.

I thank you that Christ died on the cross for me, to take away my sin, to bring me back home to yourself, to put me in a right relationship with you so that I could come to know you as one of your children.

I thank you for the Bible, your written word, that it points so clearly to Christ.

I thank you for the deep sense of assurance you give me that I know Jesus Christ personally.
Lord, I do appreciate all that you are and have done.

I pray that my whole life will be an expression of gratitude to you, through Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.


Source: Martin Manser,  A Book of Prayers. 


Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

More Than Able

Heavenly Father,

Remembering. I'm so bad at it. 

And when I read those lists of names in the Bible, it's exhausting. But then I remember: You did that so the people would remember who they are. Remember all that You did for their ancestors. Remember all the goodness and faithfulness of Yours that is part of their heritage.

Help me remember. 

You are a powerful, strong, and faithful God that comes through and keeps Hie promises and yet I am so quick to forget just how able you are, just how faithful You have been, and just how incredible Your works are. 

Teach me to remember who You are so I can rest in spite of all that is in front of me. 

Amen.





Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

we will rejoice



O Lord,

Let our prayers be counted as incense before you.
And the lifting up of our hands as an offering and a sacrifice.

We raise our hearts to you in joy and gladness as we trust in your name.
You have seen us through so much - we rejoice in that.

We are happy for your love and your leading in our lives.
You help us to find you in the darkness and teach us the way.

We will rejoice in you and be glad that you are with us.
In this new day, cause us to be in you as you are in us.

Amen. And amen.


Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

we pray as we hope



Dear God,

I am full of wishes, full of desires, full of expectations.

Some of them may be realized, many may not, but in the midst of all my satisfactions and disappointments, I hope in you.

I know that you will never leave me alone and will fulfill your divine promises.

Even when it seems that things are not going my way, I know that they are going your way and that, in the end, your way is the best way for me.

O Lord, strengthen my hope, especially when my many wishes are not fulfilled.

Let me never forget that your name is Love.

Amen
-Henri Nouwen     


Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

Prayers affirming salvation




Feed my mind and heart, O Lord, as I affirm these truths from Your word concerning salvation:

You are the resurrection and the life. He who believes in You will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in You will never die. (John 11:25–26)

I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate me from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus my Lord. (Romans 8:38–39)

By grace I have been saved through faith, and this not of myself; it is the gift of God, not of works, so that no one can boast. For I am God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand for me to do. (Ephesians 2:8–10)

Your sheep hear Your voice, and You know them, and they follow You. You give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of Your hand. The Father, who has given them to You, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of the Father’s hand. You and the Father are one. (John 10:27–30)

The Father has qualified me to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. For He has rescued me from the dominion of darkness and brought me into the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom I have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:12–14)


Source acknowledgment of the verses:   Kenneth Boa,  Handbook to Prayer: Praying Scripture back to God. 

---
Heavenly Father,

Thank you that through Christ's sacrifice of love and my trusting in Him, though I will die someday, I will live forever with You. The powers of darkness have no hold on my life because You have rescued me. Nothing can ever separate me from your love. 

It is by your grace and word that I know that my sins have been forgiven, and my experiences of your love confirm this as I listen to your voice in my prayers

Thank you! Help me to remember and cling on to these truths.

In Jesus' Name I pray

Amen





Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.