“A Sojourning Prayer” by Richard Foster

(Written while on a trip to Southeast Asia.)

O Lord, my Lord, I am a stranger in a strange land. Absent are all the subtleties of custom and language and sight and smell and taste which would normally give me my bearings.
Jesus, ever-living Teacher, use my out-of-placeness to remind me again of my alien status in this world. I belong to another kingdom and live out of another reality. May I always be ultimately concerned to learn the nuances of this eternal reality so that when it becomes my permanent residence, I will not find it strange in the least.
In the name of him who entered a foreign land so that all who will might come home to that for which they were created.
—Amen.

Peace and joy,

Richard J. Foster

Forgive Our Sins: A Prayer By John Wesley

Forgive them all, O Lord:
our sins of omission and our sins of commission;
the sins of our youth and the sins of our riper years;
the sins of our souls and the sins of our bodies;
our secret and our more open sins;
our sins of ignorance and surprise,
…..and our more deliberate and presumptuous sins;
the sins we have done to please others;
the sins we know and remember,
…..and the sins we have forgotten;
the sins we have striven to hide from others
….and the sins by which we have made others offend;
forgive them, O Lord, forgive them all for his sake, who died for our sins and rose for our justification,.and now stands at thy right hand to make intercession for us, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Accept Jesus In My Place: A Puritan Prayer

O Lord of grace,

All Your lovingkindness is in Your Son,

I bring Him to You in the arms of faith,
I urge His saving name as the One who died for me.
I plead His blood to pay my debts of wrong.

Accept His worthiness for my unworthiness,
His sinlessness for my transgressions,
His purity for my uncleanness,
His sincerity for my guile,
His truth for my deceits,
His meekness for my pride,
His constancy for my backslidings,
His love for my enmity,
His fullness for my emptiness,
His faithfulness for my treachery,
His obedience for my lawlessness,
His glory for my shame,
His devotedness for my waywardness,
His holy life for my unchaste ways,
His righteousness for my dead works,
His death for my life.

- Puritan Prayer

Come Thou Holy Spirit: A Latin Hymn From The 13th century

Jun 08, 2014 | Trevin Wax

Come, thou Holy Spirit, come:
And from thy celestial home send thy light and brilliancy.
Come, thou father of the poor,
Come, who givest all our store,
Come, the soul’s true radiancy.
Come, of comforters the best, of the soul the sweetest guest,
sweetly and refreshingly.
Come in labour rest most sweet,
shade and coolness in the heat, comfort in adversity.
Thou who art the light most blest,
come, fulfill their inmost breast, who believe most faithfully.
For without thy Godhead’s dower,
man hath nothing in his power, save to work iniquity.
What is filthy make thou pure,
what is wounded work its cure,
water what is parched and dry.
Gently bend the stubborn will,
warm to life the heart that’s chill,
guide who goeth erringly.
Fill thy faithful who adore,
and confess thee evermore,
with thy seven-fold mystery.
Here thy grace and virtue send,
grant salvation in the end, and in heaven felicity.  Amen.

- Latin hymn from the 13th century

A Grandfathers Prayer

A Grandfather's Prayer: "I ask God most often that we would be an unbroken line of Christians until Christ shall return."

"Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments." (Deuteronomy 7:9)

Divine Assistance: A prayer of St. Catherine of Siena

"You, light, give us light.
You, wisdom, give us wisdom.
You, supreme strength, strengthen us. 
Today, eternal God,
let our cloud be dissipated
so that we may perfectly know and follow your Truth in truth,
with a free and simple heart.
God, come to our assistance!
Lord, make haste to help us!"

Amen.

Enlighten Us: A Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

"Most High, Glorious God, enlighten the darkness of our minds.
Give us a right faith, a firm hope and a perfect charity,
so that we may always and in all things act according to Your Holy will. Amen." 

-St. Francis of Assisi