19th Century – Page 7 – A Collection of Prayers

A Prayer for Peace

G_C_Dieffenbach Peace be to this house! (Luke 10:5)
Peace to all of you who are in Christ. Amen. (1 Peter 5:14)
Peace be with me and with my family!
Peace be with all in this congregation!
Peace be with all in this land!
Peace be with the beloved church of God and with all the faithful!
Peace be with all who are sick and miserable,
with all who are disturbed and afflicted,
with all who are prisoners and persecuted,
with all who are struggling and fearful!
Peace be with us all, now and forever. Amen.

Source: Georg Christian Dieffenbach (1822-1901)

Source of this version: Translated for A Collection of Prayers.

Original in German:

Friede sei in diesem Hause! (Luc 10:5) Friede sei mit Allen, die in Christo Jesu sind. Amen. (1 Petr 5:14)

[Anmerk: Diesen Spruch kann man dann etwa so anwenden, indem man weiter betet:
Friede sei mit mir und den Meinen!
Friede sei mit dieser ganzen Gemeinde!
Friede sei mit dem ganzen Lande!
Friede sei mit der lieben Kirche Gottes, und mit allen Gläubigen!
Friede sei mit allen Kranken und Elenden,
mit allen Betrübten und Angefochtenen,
mit allen Gefangenen und Verfolgten,
mit allen Streitenden und Friedelosen!
Friede sei mit uns Allen von nun an bis in Ewigkeit. Amen.]

Source: Evangelische Haus-Agende by Georg Christian Dieffenbach, 1853

Swedish Christmas Prayer

church_of_sweden_2856028423629 Merciful God, loving Father,
we give you thanks and praise
that you have mercifully fulfilled
the word of your promise to the patriarchs
and sent your only Son
to become truly human
for our salvation and blessedness.

O Lord Jesus Christ,
eternal praise be to you,
that you, being rich, for our sakes became poor,
that we through your poverty might become rich;
that you have become our brother,
that we with you might become the children of God.
Grant that you may be born in our hearts,
just as you, though you are Lord of lords,
have for our sakes become a child,
so give us the right childlike mind.
You are the brightness of the Father’s glory
and image of his person,
renew us in your holy likeness.

Heavenly Light,
lighten us through the darkness of this world.
Eternal Life, give us life in you.
Great Prince of Peace, grant us your peace,
and keep us ever in your kingdom,
that we may praise and magnify you in your glory:
you, with the Father and the Holy Spirit live and reign forever.
Amen.

Source: Freely modified from The Swedish Rite: a translation of “Handbok för svenska kyrkan” by Eric Esskildsen Yelverton, 1921, Litany Prayer for Christmas Day, p. 52-53

A General Prayer (Christmas)

wilhelm_loehe Blessed Immanuel, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, we thank you for taking on yourself our nature, coming down from heaven and becoming fully human, and making us partakers of the divine nature. You revealed to us the loving heart of your Father. You brought us peace and quenched his divine anger against us. By your blessed birth we are made new creatures. You are our great High Priest through whom we have access to the Father. Enable us, O blessed Lord and loving Immanuel, to confess your appearing in the flesh, always to be mindful of your great love and humiliation, most heartily to rejoice and comfort ourselves in the same, and evermore partake of its power. Open our hearts and lips that with the holy angels we may ever praise and magnify you. Finally take us into your heavenly kingdom, that we may praise and serve you there, forever and ever. Amen. Blessed be the Lord, God of Israel. Blessed be his holy name. Let the whole earth be full of his glory. Amen.

Source: Freely modified from Liturgy for Christian Congregations of the Lutheran Faith by Wilhelm Löhe, Christmas Prayer 6, p. 124-125

A General Prayer (Advent 2)

wilhelm_loehe

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, you came into the world in the name of your Father to be a King, to justify many, and to save your people from their sins. You came to your own, and your own people did not receive you. You came to us poor Gentiles and still visit us in your Word and Sacrament. O Lord Jesus, Son of David, precious Savior, only Hope for humanity, blessed are you who come in the name of the Lord.

In you our hearts rejoice and all that is within us is glad because of your help and deliverance. You are the one who was to come and we will not look for another. Abide with us and fill our hearts daily with your presence.

By your Spirit dwell in us that we may praise your holy name, as did your disciples and the people of Jerusalem when you entered in triumph. O blessed Savior, as you kept your people faithful in ages past, keep us steadfast until death. When you return again at the end of the world to deliver us from all evil, grant that we may await with joy the time of our redemption, watch and pray that we may escape those things which will then come to pass, and finally stand before the Son of Man. All these blessings we ask for the sake of your infinite love. Amen.

Source: Freely modified from Liturgy for Christian Congregations of the Lutheran Faith by Wilhelm Löhe, Advent Prayer 2, p. 120-121

A General Prayer (Advent 1)

wilhelm_loehe

O Lord, our heavenly Father, we give you thanks for the comfort you have given us in the gift of your dear Son Jesus Christ, whom you sent to be a King and Savior to redeem his people from their sin and to deliver them from the might of Satan and the power of everlasting death. Give us your Holy Spirit to enlighten, govern, and sanctify our hearts, that we may confess him as our King and Savior, and always cling to him. Give us a true and living faith so that we may not be offended at his humiliation, Word and Kingdom, which the world esteems so lightly; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Accept also, O Lord, the prayers of your faithful people for the well being of your holy Church throughout the world. Govern and sanctify it, with all its pastors and ministers, by your Holy Spirit, that we may be kept by your Word in true faith and fervent love toward you and one another.

Grant also health and prosperity to all who are in authority, especially, the president of our nation and the governor of our state,* that they may rule over us according to your will to maintain righteousness and hinder and punish of wickedness, that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and honesty.

Grant also that our enemies may cease their enmity and be inclined to walk with us in meekness and in peace.

All who are in trouble, want, sickness, anguish of labor or any other trouble, especially those who suffer for your name and for your truth’s sake, comfort, O God, with your Holy Spirit, that they may receive and confess their afflictions as the manifestation of your Fatherly will.

Cause also the fruits of the earth to prosper, and give us all other things you would have us ask for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Source: Freely modified from Liturgy for Christian Congregations of the Lutheran Faith by Wilhelm Löhe, Advent Prayer 1, p. 119-120

* “the president of our nation and the governor of our state” should be modified to fit the circumstances of a country’s national, provincial or district authorities.

Seal and Preserve Your Testimony in Our Hearts

We thank you, wilhelm_loehe
Lord God, heavenly Father,
that you have taught us to know
the chief parts of Christian truth.
Seal and preserve this testimony in our hearts
and preserve us from all errors,
so that we may remain steadfast in your fear and faith,
always rejoice in hope,
and finally obtain the goal of our faith,
the salvation of our souls;
through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, our Lord.
Amen.

Source: Freely modified from Liturgy for Christian Congregations of the Lutheran Faith, Wilhelm Löhe, 1902, p. 70-71, Order of Service for Catechization

Thank You for Preserving Your Word

We thank you, wilhelm_loehe
Lord God, heavenly Father,
that you have preserved for us your holy Word,
and have built us up in your faith
by its mighty power.
Graciously forgive us
everything that we have done contrary to your Word.
Preserve among us this precious treasure,
that through its power
we may come to eternal life;
through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, our Lord.
Amen.

Source: Freely modified from Liturgy for Christian Congregations of the Lutheran Faith, Wilhelm Löhe, 1902, p. 70, Order of Service for Catechization

Strengthen and Keep Us

O Lord, wilhelm_loehe
we pray that we may receive
this Sacrament which we have eaten outwardly
also with pure minds and clean hearts.
Strengthen and keep us always
in this new life you have given us;
through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Source: Freely modified from Liturgy for Christian Congregations of the Lutheran Faith, Wilhelm Löhe, 1902, The Orders of Public Worship, The Communion or Morning Service, A, p. 36-37

In the 1902 translation of Löhe’s Liturgy, the prayer reads:

We heartily beseech Thee, O Lord, that we may receive with pure minds and clean hearts this Sacrament, which we have eaten outwardly, so that it may be unto us an everlasting deliverance: through Christ our Lord. Amen.

We Praise and Thank Your Divine Goodness

O almighty and eternal God, wilhelm_loehe
we praise and thank your divine goodness
for the precious food and drink you have given us
in the body and blood of your only Son.
By your Holy Spirit, grant us
the forgiveness of sin,
growth in grace,
and everlasting union
with your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Source: Freely modified from Liturgy for Christian Congregations of the Lutheran Faith, Wilhelm Löhe, 1902, The Orders of Public Worship, The Communion or Morning Service, A, p. 36

You Have Made Me for the Praise of Your Name

wilhelm_loehe Ever blessed Trinity,
to your mercy I commit this day
my body and soul,
together with all my ways and undertakings.
Be gracious to me,
enlarge my heart and open my lips,
that I may praise and magnify your name
which alone is holy.
And as you have made me
for the praise of your holy name,
grant that I may yield my life
in service to your honor
in humble love and fear.
Amen.

Source: Freely modified from Liturgy for Christian Congregations of the Lutheran Faith, Wilhelm Löhe, 1902, Breviary for the Use of the Pastor, Morning Prayer 1, p. 6