Thomas Merton's Prayer, "My Lord God"

Thomas Merton's Prayer

My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.

And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road,

though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though
I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.

I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

“The Merton Prayer” from Thoughts in Solitude Copyright © 1956, 1958 by The Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani. Used by permission of Farrar Straus Giroux. 

Prayer for the Washington Cathedral ~ 1910

 

Prayer Attributed to Saint Francis

 

Prayer Attributed to Saint Francis

Lord, make us instruments of your peace. 

Where there is hatred, let us sow love; 

where there is injury, pardon; 

where there is discord, union; 

where there is doubt, faith; 

Where there is despair, hope; 

where there is darkness, light; 

Where there is sadness, joy. 

Grant that we may not 

so much seek to be consoled as to console; 

to be understood as to understand;

to be loved as to love. 

For it is in giving that we receive; 

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; 

and it is in dying that we

are born to eternal life. Amen.

~Book of Common Prayer 1979, page 833

Prayer Attributed to Saint Francis

 

Prayer Attributed to Saint Francis

Lord, make us instruments of your peace. 

Where there is hatred, let us sow love; 

where there is injury, pardon; 

where there is discord, union; 

where there is doubt, faith; 

Where there is despair, hope; 

where there is darkness, light; 

Where there is sadness, joy. 

Grant that we may not 

so much seek to be consoled as to console; 

to be understood as to understand;

to be loved as to love. 

For it is in giving that we receive; 

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; 

and it is in dying that we

are born to eternal life. Amen.

~Book of Common Prayer 1979, page 833

"real" prayer

“How easily we slide into thinking of our prayers as the “real” prayer. What is the “real” prayer, the grace we say at the table, or the meal that follows it? And if we pray at all times, as we should, our eating and drinking will be real prayer. Gratefulness will turn the whole meal into prayer, for after we pray our prayers, we will pray our soup, salad, and dessert.”

-David Steindl-Rast, Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer

Gratefulness: The Heart of Prayer

by David Steindl-Rast

"real" prayer

“How easily we slide into thinking of our prayers as the “real” prayer. What is the “real” prayer, the grace we say at the table, or the meal that follows it? And if we pray at all times, as we should, our eating and drinking will be real prayer. Gratefulness will turn the whole meal into prayer, for after we pray our prayers, we will pray our soup, salad, and dessert.”

-David Steindl-Rast, Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer

Gratefulness: The Heart of Prayer

by David Steindl-Rast

Draw our hearts to thee

Draw our hearts to thee

New rector's prayer

O Lord my God, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; yet you have called your servant to stand in your house, and to serve at your altar.  To you and to your service I devote myself, body, soul, and spirit.  Fill my memory with the record of your mighty works; enlighten my understanding with the light of your Holy Spirit; and may all the desires of my heart and will center in what you would have me do.  Make me an instrument of your salvation for the people entrusted to my care, and grant that I may faithfully administer your holy Sacraments, and by my life and teaching set forth your true and living Word.  Be always with me in carrying out the duties of my ministry.  In prayer, quicken my devotion; in praises, heighten my love and gratitude; in preaching, give me readiness of thought and expression; and grant that, by the clearness and brightness of your holy Word, all the world may be drawn into your blessed kingdom.  All this I ask for the sake of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Book of Common Prayer pages 562-63

God of Grace, I give thanks for your generous love.

From the Society of Saint John the Evangelist - "Brother Give us a Word"

Thanks

God of Grace, I give thanks for your generous love. All that I am and all that I have comes from you.

Teach me to give thanks in all circumstances, and to express my gratitude in worship and loving service, to the glory of your Name. 

Amen.

Trust in the slow work of God

Trust in the slow work of God

Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress that it is made by passing through some stages of instability—and that it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you.
Your ideas mature gradually–let them grow,
Let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.

Only God could say what this new spirit gradually forming within you will be.
Give our Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete.

~Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ

Kneeling by R.S. Thomas

R.S. Thomas (1913–2000)

Kneeling

Moments of great calm,
Kneeling before an altar
Of wood in a stone church
In summer, waiting for the God
To speak; the air a staircase
For silence; the sun's light
Ringing me, as though I acted
A great role. And the audiences
Still; all that close throng
Of spirits waiting, as I,
For the message.
Prompt me, God;
But not yet. When I speak,
Though it be you who speak
Through me, something is lost.
The meaning is in the waiting.

Hold fast to those that endur

Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Love things heavenly

Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Prayer is the church's banquet

Prayer

Prayer the church's banquet, angel's age,

God's breath in man returning to his birth,

The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage,

The Christian plummet sounding heav'n and earth

Engine against th' Almighty, sinner's tow'r,

Reversed thunder, Christ-side-piercing spear,

The six-days world transposing in an hour,

A kind of tune, which all things hear and fear;

Softness, and peace, and joy, and love, and bliss,

Exalted manna, gladness of the best,

Heaven in ordinary, man well drest,

The milky way, the bird of Paradise,

Church-bells beyond the stars heard, the soul's blood,

The land of spices; something understood.

George Herbert (1593–1633)

Fight against the sin of pride

"You must ask God to give you power to fight against the sin of pride which is your greatest enemy—the root of all that is evil, and the failure of all that is good. For God resists the proud."

— St. Vincent de Paul

Be our companion in the way

Lord Jesus, stay with us, for evening is at hand and the day

is past; be our companion in the way, kindle our hearts, and

awaken hope, that we may know you as you are revealed in

Scripture and the breaking of bread. Grant this for the sake

of your love. Amen. 

Be our companion in the way

Lord Jesus, stay with us, for evening is at hand and the day

is past; be our companion in the way, kindle our hearts, and

awaken hope, that we may know you as you are revealed in

Scripture and the breaking of bread. Grant this for the sake

of your love. Amen. 

Grant us a safe lodging

O Lord, support us as evening comes & the busy world is hushed, then in thy mercy, grant us a safe lodging, a holy rest, & peace at the last, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Be present, O merciful God!

Be present, O merciful God, and protect us through the hours
of this night, so that we who are wearied by the changes and
chances of this life may rest in your eternal changelessness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.