Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27)
I have always loved this verse because, throughout my life, I often found myself not knowing what to pray. Sometimes my ADHD mind was too distracted to stay on topic. Other times my emotions were too big to put into words. Sometimes the circumstances I faced presented nuances that left me not knowing what to ask the Lord for other than whispering a simple “help.”
In all these situations and more, it felt comforting to me that this verse said I didn’t need the words. Sometimes, I just needed to sit with Jesus.
Several years ago, I discovered another tool to assist me in these predicaments: written prayers. Occasionally one of my professors nearing retirement age would pull out a book called The Valley of Vision (a collection of Puritan prayers) and read one before class rather than saying the standard off-the-cuff prayer I was used to. Initially, this was very strange to me. Why would you use a book of prayers other people wrote in your own prayer time with God? It seemed ingenuine at first. But then I noticed that while all my other professors were stumbling through “um”s and “bless this class” generalizations, the prayer book was ushering my class into much deeper prayer topics with much richer reverence for God. It began to feel comforting that we could use historical prayers to draw our hearts deeper into the presence of the Almighty when we didn’t have the words.
If using historical written prayers in your devotion time is a new topic, this blog will give you an easy entry point to discover the richness therein. While the Common Book of Prayer and similar resources can be invaluable tools, they’re not the easiest to understand for newbies. I would know! So as you dive deeper into prayer and presence this month, I invite you to use these prayers from throughout history to rejuvenate your prayer life when you don’t have the words.
Prayer in the Morning
We give You hearty thanks for the rest of the past night, and for the gift of a new day, with its opportunities of pleasing You. Grant that we may so pass its hours in the perfect freedom of Your service, that at eventide we may again give thanks unto You; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. —The Eastern Church.
Prayer for Your Faith
May God the Father, and the Eternal High Priest Jesus Christ, build us up in faith and truth and love, and grant to us our portion among the saints with all those who believe on our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray for all saints, for kings and rulers, for the enemies of the Cross of Christ, and for ourselves we pray that our fruit may abound and we may be made perfect in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. —Polycarp.
Prayer for Eternal Perspective
Grant us, O Lord, not to mind earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to cleave to those that shall abide; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. —Leonine Sacramentary.
Prayer of Confession
We confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry, and we humbly repent. —The Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Deeper Love
Give me yourself, O my God, give yourself to me. Behold I love you, and if my love is too weak a thing, grant me to love you more strongly. I cannot measure my love to know how much it falls short of being sufficient, but let my soul hasten to your embrace and never be turned away until it is hidden in the secret shelter of your presence. This only do I know, that it is not good for me when you are not with me, when you are only outside me. I want you in my very self. All the plenty in the world which is not my God is utter want. Amen. —St. Augustine
Prayer to Live Out Your Faith
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is doubt, faith,
Where there is despair, hope,
Where there is darkness, light,
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much
seek to be consoled as to console,
not so much to be understood as to understand,
not so much to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
it is in dying that we awake to eternal life.
— St. Francis of Assisi
Prayer for Those Who Minister
O God, your ways are mercy and truth.
Carry on your gracious work, and with your gifts
give us what our human weakness cannot attain,
that the stewards of your mysteries
may be grounded in perfect faith,
and shine like the brightness of the sky above
with lives lived to your glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—Leonine Sacramentary
Prayer for the Downcast
Almighty and eternal God,
the Comfort of the sad,
the Strength of sufferers,
hear the prayers of those who call to you in any trouble,
that they may rejoice to know
your mercy is with them in their afflictions;
through Christ our Lord. Amen.
—Gelasian Sacramentary
Prayer for the Night
Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love’s sake. Amen. —The Book of Common Prayer
Each prayer here has ministered to my heart just by reading it. What about you? Those are only a few of the hundreds of historical prayers out there, but I hope to give you a taste of the richness here so you have another avenue to meet with God. Remember, these prayers are not meant to use like a spellbook. Many prayer books have prayers for different topics, but we shouldn’t think the prayer itself has any magic words to grant our wishes. Instead, they help our hearts to meditate on truths from Scripture and give us words to commune with God in a fresh and intimate way. Though written prayers may seem foreign to some, there’s one prayer book many of us use weekly: The Psalms! David wrote prayers and songs to God that we still use today. If you ever find yourself at a loss for words, praying the Psalms can be another great resource.
Prayer is powerful! The Bible speaks of its power frequently, but we so often let excuses get in the way of becoming more prayerful people. What stands in the way for you? Now, when I don’t know what to pray, I no longer avoid it because I’m overwhelmed. Instead, I can lean on the prayers of the saints throughout history, and their words often lead me deeper into my own conversations with God. The important thing to remember is: He’s eager to meet with you and hear your heart. Don’t leave Him hanging! Find a time today to pray, and if you don’t know where to start, use one of these written prayers from Church History!
