A Morning Prayer...

Eternal Father of my soul, let my first thought today be of You, let my first impulse be to worship You, let my first speech be Your name, let my first action be to kneel before You        in prayer.           

• For Your perfect wisdom and perfect goodness:
• For the love with which You love mankind:
• For the love with which You love me:
• For the great and mysterious opportunity of my life:
• For the indwelling of Your Spirit in my heart:
• For the sevenfold gifts of Your Spirit:                                                                             I praise and worship You, O Lord.

Yet let me not, when this morning prayer is said, think my worship ended and spend the         day in forgetfulness of You. Rather from these moments of quietness let light go forth,           and joy, and power, that will remain with me through all the hours of the day;

• Keeping me chaste in thought:
• Keeping me temperate and truthful in speech:
• Keeping me faithful and diligent in my work:
• Keeping me humble in my estimation of myself:
• Keeping me honorable and generous in my dealings with others:
• Keeping me loyal to every hallowed memory of the past:
• Keeping me mindful of my eternal destiny as a child of Yours.                                   Through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.

John Baillie, A Diary of Private Prayer 1949

Paradoxes

Love these Puritan prayers that so speak my heart...

O CHANGELESS GOD,

Under the conviction of thy spirit I learn that

the more I do, the worse I am,

the more I know, the less I know,

the more holiness I have, the more sinful I am,

the more I love, the more there is to love.

O wretched man that I am!

O Lord,

I have a wild heart,

and cannot stand before thee;

I am like a bird before a man.

How little I love thy truth and ways!

I neglect prayer,

by thinking I have prayed enough and earnestly,

by knowing thou has saved my soul.

Of all hypocrites, grant that I may not be an evangelical hypocrite,

who sins more safely because grace abounds,

who tells his lusts that Christ’s blood cleanseth them,

who reasons that God cannot cast him into hell, for he is saved,

who loves evangelical preaching, churches, Christians, but lives unholily.

My mind is a bucket without a bottom,

with no spiritual understanding,

no desire for the Lord’s Day,

ever learning but never reaching the truth,

always at the gospel-well but never holding water.

My conscience is without conviction or contrition,

with nothing to repent of.

My will is without power of decision or resolution

My heart is without affection, and full of leaks.

My memory has no retention,

so I forget easily the lesson learned,

and thy truths seep away.

Give me broken heart that yet carries home the water of grace.

Puritan's Prayer

A Disciple's Renewal

O my Saviour,
help me.
I am so slow to learn, 
so prone to forget, 
so weak to climb;
I am in the foothills when 
I should be on the heights;
I am pained by my graceless heart,
my prayerless days,
my poverty of love,
my sloth in the heavenly race,
my sullied conscience,
my wasted hours,
my unspent opportunities.
I am blind while light shines around me:
take the scales from my eyes,
grind to dust the evil heart of unbelief.
Make it my chiefest joy to study thee,
meditate on thee,
gaze on thee,
sit like Mary at thy feet,
lean like John upon thy breast,
appeal like Peter to thy love,
count like Paul all things dung.
Give me increase and progress in grace so that there may be
more decision in my character,
more vigor in my purposes,
more elevation in my life,
more fervor in my devotion,
more constancy in my zeal.
As I have a position in the world,
keep me from making the world my position;
May I never seek in the creature
what can be found only in the Creator;
Let not faith cease from seeking thee until it vanishes into sight.
Ride forth in me, thou king of kings and lord of lords,
that I may live victoriously, and in victory attain my end.

A Puritan's Prayer

A Conciliator's Prayer

Ken Sande, the founder of Peacemaker Ministries 
prays this prayer as a conciliator. 

This is the prayer of my heart as a pastor, as well 


O LORD, God
Today I am called to be a peacemaker, 

but I am unfit for the task.  
By nature I am a peace-faker and a peace-breaker, 
so I myself need help.

Others ask me to understand and guide them, 
but my ears are dull, 

my eyes are dim, 
and I lack the wisdom they need. 

But you, Lord, have all they need, 
so I come to you for supply.

Make me fit for your purposes, 
so I might serve them and honor you.

Cleanse me from my own sin 
so I will not add to their problems;

take the logs from my eyes, 
so I can remove the specks from theirs.

Fill me with your Spirit so they may benefit from your fruit:

love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,

faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Give me wisdom from above so 
I might be pure and peace-loving,

considerate and submissive, 
full of mercy and good fruit, 
impartial and sincere.

Open Your Word to my eyes and to my heart,

so I will have a steady lamp to light our path.

Strip me of my own agenda and desires, 
so I might look only to others' good

and be absolutely worthy of their trust.

Help me to model everything I teach, 
so others can see the way.

Give me humility to admit my weaknesses 
and confess my wrongs,

so others might do the same.

Draw me again and again into prayer, 
where you can strengthen and correct me.

Make me submissive -- 
help me to show that I myself am under authority.

Help me to treat others as I want to be treated, 
so they may see the essence of your Law.

Make me creative, versatile, and adaptable 
so I can adjust to the surprises ahead.

Help me to accept others as you have accepted me,
 and thus bring praise to your name.

Give me faith and perseverance
 so I will not doubt your provision

or abandon your principles, 
even when others fight against them.

Grant me the gift of encouragement, 
to give others hope and help them believe

that our labor is not in vain.

Help me to model your forgiveness 
so relationships are healed

and your Gospel is revealed.

Grant me discernment 
so that I may read 
the deep waters of others' hearts,

sort fiction from fact, 
and know when it's time to act.

Give me boldness and courage, 
tempered with kindness, 
to confront others in love

so they might see their errors and 
find their way back to you.

Help me to prepare thoroughly 
and not presume upon your grace.

Make me just and fair, 
so that even if people disagree

with my counsel they will believe 
that I treated them well.

In short, Father,

please give me the Spirit of Christ 
so that I might walk in His steps and guide 
Your people Into the path of Your peace.

The Valley of VISION

LORD HIGH AND HOLY, MEEK AND LOWLY,

Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision,

where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights;

hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox

That the way down is the way up,

That to be low is to be high,

That the broken heart is the healed heart,

That the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,

That the repenting soul is the victorious soul,

That to have nothing is to posses all,

That to bear the cross is to wear the crown,

That to give is to receive,

That the valley is the place of vision.

LORD, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,

and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine;

Let me find Thy light in my darkness,

Thy life in my death,

Thy joy in my sorrow,

Thy grace in my sin,

Thy riches in my poverty,

Thy glory in my valley.

Written by Puritans