Author: pastorstratman

Lutheran pastor and musician serving St. Stephen's in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.

You Give Salvation, You Give Comfort

grigor_narekatsi_1For yours is salvation,
and from you is redemption,
and by your right hand is restoration,
and your finger is fortification.
Your command is justification.
Your mercy is liberation.
Your countenance is illumination.
Your face is exultation.
Your spirit is benefaction.
Your anointing oil is consolation.
A dew drop of your grace is exhilaration.
You give comfort.
You make us forget despair.
You lift away the gloom of grief.
You change the sighs of our heart into laughter.
To you is fitting blessing with praise
in heaven and on earth
from our forefathers and to all their generations
forever and ever.
Amen.

Source: Gregory of Narek (Armenian) 951-1003, from Prayer 9, D

Give Us Knowledge and Life Everlasting

johnchrysostom

Almighty God,
you have given us grace at this time
to make our common prayers to you,
and you promise that when two or three
are gathered together in your name
you will grant their requests.
O Lord, fulfill the desires and prayers of your servants,
as you know what is best for us,
granting us knowledge of your truth in this world,
and life eternal in the world to come.
Amen.

Source: Book of Common Prayer, and The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.

Original in Greek:

Ὁ τὰς κοινὰς ταύτας καὶ συμφώνους ἡμῖν χαρισάμενος προσευχάς, ὁ καὶ δυσὶ καὶ τρισί, συμφωνοῦσιν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματί σου, τὰς αἰτήσεις παρέχειν ἐπαγγειλάμενος· Αὐτὸς καὶ νῦν τῶν δούλων σου τὰ αἰτήματα πρὸς τὸ συμφέρον πλήρωσον, χορηγῶν ἡμῖν ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι ζωὴν αἰώνιον χαριζόμενος.

In traditional English from the Book of Common Prayer:

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.

At Sea or in Danger

rembrandt_christ_in_the_storm_on_the_lake_of_galileeO Lord, you stilled the raging of the sea.
Hear us, save us, and do not let us perish.
O blessed Savior, you saved your disciples
when they were about to perish in a storm.
Hear us and save us.

Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.

Lord, hear us.
Christ, hear us.

God the Father, God the + Son, God the Holy Spirit,
have mercy on us,
save us now and evermore.
Amen.

Source: Modified from Book of Common Prayer, (British, 1922?) Short Prayers in Respect of a Storm.

Original in traditional English:

THOU, O Lord, that stillest the raging of the sea: hear, hear us, and save us, that we perish not.

O blessed Saviour, that didst save thy disciples ready to perish in a storm: hear us, and save us, we beseech thee.

Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.

O Lord, hear us.
O Christ, hear us.

God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost, have mercy upon us, save us now and evermore. Amen.

A Doxology by Thomas Cranmer

thomas_cranmer_by_gerlach_flickeTo the Holy Spirit who sanctifies us,
with the Father who made and created us,
and the + Son who redeemed us,
be given all honor and glory,
now and forever.

Source: Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556), found on http://www.biblia.work/sermons/prayersbible-prayers-short/ (modified)

Three Blessings by Philip Melanchthon

0940_Cranach_nR 001Son of God,
Lord Jesus Christ,
crucified on a cross for us
and raised up from the grave,
to you we pray.
Receive us into your eternal church
and keep us always.
With your Holy Spirit, guide us
in the light of your Word.

The almighty God,
Father of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,
mercifully protect you,
strengthen you,
and guide you.

May the almighty God,
Father of our Savior Jesus Christ,
who through his gospel is gathering
an eternal church among men and women,
strengthen you in body and soul,
and graciously keep and guide you,
now and forever.

Source: Philip Melanchthon, found on http://www.biblia.work/sermons/prayersbible-prayers-short/ (modified)

Prayers from the Evangelical-Lutheran Heritage by [Stratman, Paul]Prayers by Philip Melanchthon are included in Prayers from the Evangelical-Lutheran Heritage, available from Amazon.com, and also available for Amazon Kindle. It is a collection of prayers from the history of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church from Luther to Loehe. The collection includes prayers by Johannes Bugenhagen, Georg C. Dieffenbach, Veit Dietrich, Matthias Flacius, Wilhelm Loehe, Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon, Joachim Mynsinger, Johann G. Olearius, Johann Jacob Rambach, and the early agendas and prayer books of the Austrian, Brunswick, Hamburg, Lueneberg, Norwegian, Nuremberg, Pomeranian, Riga, Russian, Saxon, Schleswig-Holstein, and Swedish Evangelical-Lutheran churches.

A Passion Blessing

May the almighty Lord,
who bore the reproach of the cross,
bless all this family present here.
Amen.

May he, who hung on the tree,
himself lead us to the heavenly kingdom.
Amen.

May he place us at the right hand of the Father,
who was made the cause of our peace.
Amen.

Through the mercy of our God,
who is blessed and reigns,
and governs all things,
now and forever.

Source: Mozarabic Breviary, found on http://www.biblia.work/sermons/prayersbible-prayers-short/

Mozarabic, ad.

 

Bind Up Broken Hearts

christhealingthesickO Jesus,
anointed by your Father
with his Spirit of power,
bring your good news to us,
bind up our broken hearts,
proclaim liberty to us captives,
open our prisons,
loosen our bonds,
proclaim your grace
and favor to us,
year by year,
day by day,
hour by hour,
that you alone
can and will
set everything right.
Comfort us in our sorrows,
and adorn us
with your holiness,
goodness,
righteousness,
and joy.
Amen.

Source: Paul C. Stratman, based on Isaiah 61.

Help Us Overcome

devil-1566853_640

O God,
you are the healer
of soul and body.
Save us
and make us whole.
Even when
we suffer
under all our sickness
and all our infirmity,
help us overcome
the temptations of the enemy
by your strength;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Source: Freely modified from The Priest’s Prayerbook, 1865, #262

Original in traditional English:

O GOD, Who art the Healer of soul and body, send forth Thy salvation, and make us whole; that  while we deplore all our sickness and all our infirmity, we may by Thy strength overcome the temptations of the enemy. Through…