Prayer of Recollection by John H. Coe

To rouse our soul and prepare us to meet with God in truth (Ps.15:1-2).

To put away all falsehood and awaken to our true identity in union with Christ by the Spirit (Col. 3:1-4).

1. Present and open your heart to the Lord and intend to learn from Him.

Prayer of Presenting: Lord, I am here; I present myself to you. Open my heart to the truth of what is
going on in my life. (Rom. 12:1-2)

2. Open to the truth that in Christ and by means of Christ in you that you have already died with Christ to the old Adamic nature that used to live apart from God. Remind yourself in prayer that by the Spirit, who is your new existence at the core of your personality, you have already (indicative) put off and put to death the old nature’s habits such as excess anger, wrath, malice, excess fear, worry, pride, arrogance, selfishness, impatience, unkindness and all the deeds of the flesh. Open to the truth of these matters and talk to the Lord about this, whether you still struggle with these matters of the flesh (Col 3:9).

Prayer of Detachment: At the core of my spirit, I am no longer an angry person, a fearful person, a worrier, arrogant, prideful, envious, distrustful, unkind, impatient, jealous, full of malice, wrath. At the core, my identity is not longer being a sinner, wicked, rebellious and unloving. I am not a . (Confess any sins of the heart that are brought to consciousness by the Spirit)

3. Affirm to your soul and the Lord your true identity in Christ and as Christ in you, so that being in union with Christ, you are no longer condemned but accepted in Him, your debt of sin being cancelled. And open to your true self by the Spirit, that you have already (indicative) put on compassion, kindness, humility, patience, trust, love, self-control, peace, goodness and all the fruits of the Spirit. Be open to the truth of this, whether this is truly
what you experience or not and talk with the Lord about this (Col. 3:10).

Prayer of Attachment: I am now clothed with Christ's righteousness, with full pardon from guilt and full acceptance from God. I am precious in God's eyes. God calls me His beloved. And by the Spirit, at the core of my personality, I have put on His fruits of love, compassion, humility, kindness, forgiveness, gentleness, patience, self-control, peace and goodness. That is who I truly am. (Confess any unbelief.)

4. Resolve in your heart and in prayer to obey the Lord, to put off the old and put on the new (the biblical imperatives) by setting your mind continually on Christ, who is your life, and as the appropriate moments arise, to let go of any sin or “old self” residue and to live out who you are from the heart (Col. 3:1-4, 8, 12).

Prayer of Obedience: Lord, may my mind and heart all day open to Christ, who is my life. And may I have the wisdom when the time is right to lay aside the old person residue and its ways and to simply
put on Christ, to obey you in all things and to reaffirm who I really am in Christ. Lord, have mercy.

5. Hear the Word of God Col. 3:14 Beyond all these things, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.

PRAYER OF RECOLLECTION IN COLOSSIANS Dr. John H. Coe Director, Institute for Spiritual Formation, Talbot School of Theology © Copyright 2012 John H. Coe. All rights reserved.

I Believe So That I May Understand by Anselm of Canterbury

Jul 27, 2014 | Trevin Wax

I confess, Lord, with thanksgiving,
that You have made me in Your image,
so that I can remember You,
think of You,
and love You.

But that image is so worn and blotted out by faults,
and darkened by the smoke of sin,
that it cannot do that for which it was made,
unless You renew and refashion it.

Lord, I am not trying to make my way to Your height,
for my understanding is in no way equal to that,
but I do desire to understand a little of Your truth
which my heart already believes and loves.

I do not seek to understand so that I can believe,
but I believe so that I may understand;
and what is more,
I believe that unless I do believe,
I shall not understand.

- Anselm of Canterbury

“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)