Category: Christian Prayer

Rite for the Presentation of Bibles to Children

The Bibles may be stacked on a table in front of the altar. The children gather around the table.

Our Lord Jesus Christ said, “If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples. You will also know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)  and St. Paul wrote to Timothy, “From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:15).

Our God has given us his holy Word, both to be our guide through life and to show us his good, gracious and saving will. It is in the Bible’s message of the gospel that we meet our Savior Jesus Christ, hear his Word, and come to know God as a compassionate and gracious Father.

Let us pray.

Blessed Lord, you have given us your Holy Scriptures for our learning. May we so hear them, read, learn, and take them to heart, that being strengthened and comforted by  your holy Word, we may cling to the blessed hope of everlasting life, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen.

The minister places his hand on the Bibles and addresses the children:

So that this Word of God may be a lamp for your feet and a light for your path, we present these Bibles to you. Here is where God teaches us what he wants us to believe and do. Read the Scriptures so that the Word that is written with ink on paper may also be written in your hearts and minds, and be your guide for life, your comfort and your hope, in good times and in bad.

The minister hands the Bibles to the children.

May the Word of the Lord give you wisdom.
May it bring joy to your heart and light to your eyes.
May it instruct you in the fear of the Lord,
and guide you in his truth. (from Psalm 19)
Amen.

Source: Prepared for A Collection of Prayers, 2019

Scripture passages are quoted from The Holy Bible: Evangelical Heritage Version. www.wartburgproject.org.

For more information on the Collect for the Word, “Blessed Lord, you have given us your holy Scriptures…” see https://acollectionofprayers.com/2016/06/20/collect-for-the-word/

See also Rite for the Welcome of Catechumens.

Rite for the Disposition of an Old Bible

The grace of our Lord + Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you.
And also with you.

A reading from the prophet Isaiah.

A voice was saying, “Cry out!”
And I said, “What shall I cry out?”
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty is like a wildflower in the countryside.
7 Grass withers, flowers fade
when the breath of the Lord blows on them.
Yes, the people are grass.
8 Grass withers, flowers fade,
but the Word of our God endures forever. (Isaiah 40:6-8 EHV)

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God. 

The old Bible is placed in a paper bag, and then carefully placed in a recycle bin.

Let us pray.

O Lord, your Word is eternal. Ink and paper are not. We send this Bible that is worn from use to be recycled, perhaps even to bear your Word again. Let your eternal Word remain in our hearts. Let it be the lamp for our feet, the light for our path, and the place where we find our Savior, your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Go in peace. Serve the Lord with gladness.
Amen.

Source: A Collection of Prayers, 2019

Crown the Faith of Those Who Cling to You

O God,
Father of your only Son,
you dwell in heaven
and you scoff at those
who rise against your Anointed One.
Grant us special grace
that we may not yield to adversities,
that the unbelief of those who do not know you
may be done away with,
and the faith of those who cling to you
may be crowned.

Source: Mozarabic Rite, 7th Century

Source of this version: Oremus, edited by Paul Zeller Strodach

 

Mozarabic, ad.

An Anniversary of Ministry

lutherrose

O God,
by your command the order of all time runs its course.
Look graciously on me your servant,
whom you have called into your ministry.
Mercifully preserve your gifts in me
so that my service may be pleasing to you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Source: Gelasian, in The New Ancient Collects, #576, Bright’s Ancient Collects, p. 194.1

 

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“God Be in My Head…” Prayers from Old Sarum

"God Be in My Head..." Prayers from Old Sarum by [Stratman, Paul]The Sarum Rite, also called the Use of Salisbury, was a variation of the Roman Rite developed in the 1100s that was known to be high in ceremony. It also had a wealth of richly worded prayers that have influenced Christian worship ever since. Many prayers from the Sarum Rite were used in the Book of Common Prayer. This book gathers prayers from the original Sarum Missals, Breviaries and Psalters and presents them in a single collection in contemporary liturgical English, and may be useful in public or private devotions.

NOTE: This volume also contains all the psalm prayers from the book Psalm Prayers from Sarum.

Available in paperback and for Kindle from Amazon.com.

Happy Birthday, A Collection of Prayers

ACOPhits.pngOn June 18, 2016, I began a prayer blog and uploaded “Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest” as the first entry. My goal was to make a collection of prayers similar to one of my favorite books, The Oxford Book of Prayer, and to make the prayers easily readable, readily usable, and easily searchable.

I began the project because other people were asking me to direct them to prayer and liturgy resources, and I wanted to study the history of Christian corporate prayer to improve and expand my own knowledge and skill in prayer and prayer writing.

King David described receiving God’s blessings as having an overflowing cup. It’s been a blessing to me in collecting and editing. I pray that it has also been a blessing to those who read and use the prayers. The map above shows the origins of “clicks” on A Collection of Prayers. 

This last year, I completed revision and posting of Potts’ Prayers of the Early Church and Prayers of the Middle Ages, which has expanded this collection of classic prayers.

What’s next? I’ve got a couple book projects in works and planning. For the website, I’m always looking for meaningful prayers in the public domain that can be “freely modified.”

Blessings to those who read and to those who hear!

Paul C. Stratman

 

In Your Arms I Am Safe

O my Lord and Savior,
in your arms I am safe.
Keep me and I have nothing to fear.
Give me up and I have nothing to hope for.
I do not know what will come upon me before I die.
I know nothing about the future,
but I rely upon you.
I pray that you would give me what is good for me.
I pray that you would to take from me whatever would imperil my salvation.
I do not pray that you would make me rich.
I do not pray that you would make me very poor.
I leave it all to you, because you know and I do not.
If you bring pain or sorrow on me,
give me grace to bear it well—
keep me from fretfulness and selfishness.
If you give me health and strength and success in this world,
keep me always on my guard
lest these great gifts carry me away from you.
O Christ, you died on the Cross for me,
even for me, sinner as I am.
Help me to know you,
to believe in you,
to love you,
to serve you,
to always aim at bringing you glory,
to live to and for you,
to set a good example to all around me.
Allow me to die just at that time and in that way
which is best for your glory,
and best for my salvation.

Source: John Henry Newman, 1801-1890

Source of this version: Freely modified from The Newman Reader, #200

The Litany of the Most Holy Trinity (1)

Blessed be the holy Trinity and undivided Unity;
we will give glory to him, because he has shown his mercy to us.

O Lord our Lord, how wonderful is your name in all the earth!
O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God!

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy. 

Blessed Trinity, hear us.
Adorable Unity, graciously hear us.

God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us. 

Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us. 

Father, from whom are all things,
Son, through whom are all things,
Holy Spirit, in whom are all things, have mercy on us. 

Holy and undivided Trinity, have mercy on us. 

Eternal Father,
only Son of the Father,
Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son, have mercy on us. 

Co-eternal majesty of three divine persons, have mercy on us. 

Father, the Creator,
Son, the Redeemer,
Holy Spirit, the Comforter, have mercy on us. 

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts,
who is, who was, and who is to come,
God most high, who inhabits eternity,
to whom alone are due all honor and glory,
who alone does great wonders,
power infinite,
wisdom incomprehensible,
love unspeakable, have mercy on us. 

Be  merciful, spare us, O Holy Trinity.
Be  merciful, graciously hear us, O Holy Trinity.

From all evil, deliver us, O Holy Trinity.
From all sin, deliver us, O Holy Trinity. 

From all pride,
from all love of riches,
from all uncleanness,
from all laziness,
from all misdirected love,
from all envy and malice,
from all anger and impatience,
from every thought, word, and deed contrary to your holy law,
from your everlasting condemnation, deliver us, O Holy Trinity. 

Through your almighty power,
through your abundant loving kindness,
through the exceeding treasure of your goodness and love,
through the depths of your wisdom and knowledge,
through all your unspeakable perfections, deliver us, O Holy Trinity. 

We sinners pray, hear us.

That we may always serve you alone,
that we may worship you in spirit and in truth,
that we may love you with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our strength,
we pray, hear us.

That, for your sake, we may love our neighbors as ourselves,
that we may faithfully keep your holy commandments,
that we may never defile our bodies and souls with sin,
that we may go from grace to grace, and from virtue to virtue,
that we may finally enjoy the sight of you in glory,
that you would hear us,
we pray, hear us.

O blessed Trinity, deliver us.
O blessed Trinity, save us.
O blessed Trinity, have mercy on us.

Lord, have mercy,
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Our Father…

Blessed are you, O Lord, in the firmament of heaven,
And worthy to be praised, and glorious, and highly exalted forever.

Let us pray.
Almighty and everlasting God, you have granted your servants in the confession of the true faith, to acknowledge the glory of an eternal Trinity, and in the power of your majesty to adore a Unity. Strengthen our faith and defend us from all adversity; through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Source: Modified from http://catholictradition.org/Litanies/litanies1a.htm

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A Family Handbook of Prayer

AFHoP,Cover.pngI was contacted by Mary J. Moerbe who is a blogger interested in Lutheran writers. She also runs a Lutheran homeschool website, www.LutheranHomeschool.com. She asked if I would develop a short prayerbook with a set of classic prayers, and provide some prayers and Scriptures in other languages for homeschoolers who are teaching their children other languages.

The result is A Family Handbook of Prayer. It is provided as a free download. Its 24 pages contain morning and evening prayers, the Lord’s Prayer in several languages, table prayers, and a selection of psalms taken from the English Standard Version, some are also printed with German (Luther 1545), Latin (Vulgate) and Spanish (Reina-Valera 1995) translations.

It is formatted as a pdf, and instructions on printing as a booklet are on the inside front page (p. 2).

Download at this link: 

A Family Handbook of PrayerDownload
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For an expanded selection of family and personal prayers, see Christian Prayer.