Christian Prayer – Page 140 – A Collection of Prayers

Turn Our Eyes from Vain Things

O Lord our God,
make our hearts obedient to your will;
turn our eyes away from vain things,
that, free from the world’s attraction,
they may always look on your glorious beauty.
For you are our God,
the God of compassion and salvation,
and we glorify you,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
now and for ever,
to the ages and ages.
Amen.

Source: Eastern Orthodox Church

Source of this version: http://www.thisischurch.com/christian_teaching/lectionary_bible_notes/lectionarybiblenotesyeara/ordinary9yeara.htm

Also found here (attributed as “Ancient Christian Prayer”): http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/transformgarden/transformation-garden-september-23-2013.html

“Turn our eyes” is a reference to Psalm 119:37

Show Me Your Mercy

Show me, O Lord,
your mercy
and delight my heart with it.
Let me find you
whom I so longingly seek.
See!
Here is the man
whom the robbers siezed,
mishandled,
and left half dead
on the road to Jericho.
O kind hearted Samaritan,
come to my aid!
I am the sheep
who wandered into the wilderness –
seek after me
and bring me home again
to your fold.
Do with me what you will
that I may stay by you
all the days of my life,
and praise you with all those
who are with you
in heaven for all eternity.

Source: St. Jerome

Source of this version: http://www.spirituality.org/is/110/saint.asp

Also found here: http://www.ccel.org/node/4505

Also found here: Prayers Ancient and Modern by Mary Wilder Tileston, Boston, Little Brown, 1914, p. 224 #2

Give Me the Strength to Seek You

220px-sandro_botticelli_050 Lord,
my God,
my one hope,
hear me,
that I be not unwilling, through weariness,
to seek you,
but that I may always ardently seek your face.

Give me the strength to seek,
since you have made me in order to find you,
and have given me the hope of finding you more and more.

My strength and my weakness are known to you:
preserve the one
and heal the other.

My knowledge and my ignorance are known to you:
where you have opened to me,
receive me as I enter;
where you have closed to me,
open to me as I knock.

May I remember you,
understand you,
love you.

Increase these things in me
until you have wholly renewed me.

Source: St. Augustine

Source of this version: http://www.marypages.com/SaintAugustinus.htm

Also found here: http://www.vatican.va/spirit/documents/spirit_20021011_agostino-trinity_en.html

Graphic by Sandro Botticeli from Wikipedia.com.

Will You Guide Me?

220px-sandro_botticelli_050 Father, I am seeking:
I am hesitant and uncertain,
but will you, O God,
watch over each step of mine
and guide me?

Source: St. Augustine

Source of this version: http://www.christiancollegeguide.net/article/Guide-Me-God

Also found here: http://www.stjames-coorparoo.org.au/prayer-augustine-on-prayer.html

And here: http://getupwithgod.com/god/sunday-prayer-12/

Graphic by Sandro Botticeli from Wikipedia.com.

Comforter, Abide in Us

Heavenly King, Comforter,
the Spirit of truth,
present in all places and filling all things,
treasury of goodness and giver of life:
come and abide in us.
Cleanse us from every stain of sin
and save our souls, O gracious Lord.

Source: Romanian Orthodox Church, Book of Hours, 1865

Source of this version: http://www.orthodoxprayer.org/Introductory%20Prayers.html

Also found here: http://oca.org/orthodoxy/prayers/trisagion

Also found here: Prayers Ancient and Modern
by Mary Wilder Tileston, Boston, Little Brown, 1914, p. 144 #2

All Creation Praises

The hosts of heaven give him glory;
before him tremble cherubim and seraphim;
let everything that has breath and all creation
praise him, bless him, and exalt him above all for ever.

You cover your high places with the waters,
you set the sand as a boundary to the sea and uphold all things:
the sun sings your praises,
the moon gives you glory,
all creatures offer a hymn to you,
their author and creator, forever.

Let all the trees of the forest dance and sing. . . .

Let the mountains and all the hills
break forth into great rejoicing at the mercy of God,
and let the trees of the forest clap their hands.

Source: Eastern Orthodox Church, (The Great Canon, Canticle Eight, irmos; Compline for Holy Thursday; Matins for the Sunday of the Cross; Matins for Palm Sunday.)

Also found here: http://www.stjohn.fl.goarch.org/the-true-nature-of-fasting/

Creator, Watch over Us

Creator of the universe, watch over us
and keep us in the light of your presence.
May our praise continually blend
with that of all creation,
until we come together to the eternal joys
which you promise in your love;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Source: Celtic prayer

Source of this version: http://www.pettchapel.org.uk/Extras/Prayers/Prayers_of_Praise.htm

Variant:

Creator of the universe, watch over us
and keep us in the light of your presence.
Let our praise continually blend
with that of all creation,
and bring us, with all for whom we pray,
to the eternal joys
which you promise in your love;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

Source of this version: http://www.revjones.fsnet.co.uk/prayers/prayers.html

A Communion Prayer

Glory be to you O Jesus, my Lord, and my God,
for thus feeding my Soul,
with your most blessed body and blood,
O let your heavenly food transfuse new life,
and new vigor into my soul,
and into the souls of all that commune with me,
that our faith may daily increase,
that we may all grow more humble,
and contrite for our sins,
that we may all love you, and serve you,
and delight in you, and praise you,
more servantly, more unceasingly,
then ever we have done heretofore!
Amen, Amen.

Source: Thomas Ken

Source of this version: http://www.prayer-and-prayers.info/catholic-prayers/prayer-after-communion.htm

Also found here: http://forwardministryonline.com/prayerbookcontents/eucharisticdevotions/aftercommunionken.html

And here: http://anglicanhistory.org/ken/manual.html

Original in traditional English:

Glory be to thee O Jesus,
my Lord, and my God,
for thus feeding my soul,
with thy most blessed body and blood;
O let thy heavenly food transfuse new life,
and new vigour into my soul,
and into the souls of all that communicate with me,
that our faith may daily increase,
that we may all grow more humble,
and contrite for our sins,
that we may all love thee, and serve thee,
and delight in thee, and praise thee,
more servantly, more incessantly,
than ever we have done heretofore. Amen.

Variant:

…more fervently, more incessantly,

May Your Grace Move Our Love

O sweet Savior Christ,
in your undeserved love for us
you were prepared to suffer the painful death of the cross:
let me not be cold or even lukewarm in my love for you.

Lord help me to face the truth about myself.
Help me to hear my words as others hear them,
to see my face as others see me;
Let me be honest enough to recognize my impatience and conceit;

Let me recognize my anger and selfishness;
Give me sufficient humility to accept my own weakness for what they are.
Give me the grace – at least in your presence – to say. ‘I was wrong – forgive me.’

God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
increase in us faith and truth and gentleness
and grant us part and lot among the saints.

Source: Polycarp

Source of this version: https://anglicanprayer.wordpress.com/2009/02/23/a-prayer-attributed-to-st-polycarp-increase-in-us-faith-truth-and-gentleness/

Also found here: http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/polycarp-lightfoot.html

This prayer has some overlap with “May Christ Build You Up.”

Restore Us to Your Right Path

veit-dietrich Lord God, heavenly Father,
we all like sheep have gone astray.
We let ourselves be led away from the right path
by Satan and our own sinful flesh:
Graciously forgive us all our sins
for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ;
and quicken our hearts by your Holy Spirit,
that we may remain in your Word,
and in true repentance and a steadfast faith
continue in your Church to the end,
and obtain eternal salvation;
through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

Source: Veit Dietrich, d. 1549, Trinity 3

This revision/translation of The Collects of Veit Dietrich is licensed by Paul C. Stratman under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Please contact for permission for any commercial use.