May your Spirit teach me, gracious Lord.
May he cleanse me from malice
And open my eyes
That I may search your holy word with diligence.
And then discover your commandment and promise.
Then, by the strength of your Holy Spirit,
May I put to practice your commandment
May I practice the faith of your promise
All the days of my life.
    -Based on a prayer by Bede




Lord Jesus, I believe, help me in my unbelief.
Forgive me for rejecting your “lesser words” for ignoring your teaching as unimportant or hard to understand.  Help me to be fully submitted to your word—all of it, without exception.
Forgive me for all the many ways I fail to trust you.  For following my own standard instead of yours because it seems easier or more convenient for me.  Teach me to walk in your ways and let me never depart from them.
Help me to rely first on your tenderness, mercy and grace rather than my own work, thoughts or will.  May I depend on You for all that I am, all that I do, all that I say and all that I am passionate about.
For without you
I love nothing,
I say nothing,
I do nothing,
I am nothing.






We wait for your cleansing
    You wait for our repentance.
We wait for new hearts
    You wait for us to recognize our sin.
We wait for the fullness of your Spirit
    You wait for our bold prayers.
We wait for our land
    You wait for your people.
We wait for your plenty
    You wait for our sacrifice.
We wait for our destiny
    You wait for our faith.
We wait for your name to be sanctified.
    You wait for our lives to be holy.
We wait for the resurrection
    You wait for us to accept your new life.
We wait for the judgement of the wicked
    You wait for the coming of the meek.
We wait for the kingdom come
    You wait for the kingdom came.

We wait with longing, we wait in patience
We wait amidst suffering, strife and evil
We wait crying out to You
    Again and again
    Complaining, crying, mourning, asking,
“How long, O Lord?
Come quickly, Lord Jesus!”




May my actions be such that they cause others to believe more in you, whether I say a word or not.




Prepare me, my Father, to be as the apostles:
    I am to be sent without provision
    I am to speak boldly without support
    I am to test and measure the response
    I am to speak the word of Jesus
    I am to respond by the Spirit
May I be led clearly to go where you send and to not fear.




Allow me to never fear the consequences of doing your will.  Give me the strength to step our in action, though the consequences be dire.  
Let me not fear opposition
Let me not be anxious about provision
Let me not overprotect those you called to be with me.


I pray, Lord of heaven
That I would not seek greatness, status, wealth or fame on my own.
Allow me to be humble
May I take only that which you have appointed me in your right time.
In the meantime, may I be content with what you have given me
Even if I currently only have shame and hatred to call my own
For I know that you have promised to exalt the lowly.

Lead me to the way of weakness
    So that I may gain your strength
Lead me to the way of lowliness
    So that I may be exalted by you.
Lead me to the way of suffering
    So that I may be a son with Jesus.
Lead me to the way of meekness
    So that I may inherit the earth.

Father I ask this of you alone
    So that no one can say that what has been done has been accomplished by any human hand
And thus giving you all the glory.





Father,
I pray that you would give me the Spirit of wisdom, understanding and compassion.  May I see your word for what it says and not for what I want it to say.  Help me to understand your ways clearly so that I may live it and teach it.
May I teach your word with clarity and compassion so that I will speak to be understood.  May I speak your word alone and speak in a way appreciating the needs of your people.  May I understand the situations of those in need of correction or counsel.  May I not just hear their words, but look behind the words to clearly discern their heart.




Father
May our love for you be as the Sun
Outshining every other star,
Every other love that might appear in our sky.
May there be none other that would compete with our love for you in our hearts.
Strip away our complacency and apathy and teach us to serve you alone,
Our Master and Savior.






Lord, allow me to be one who may abide in your Holy Place.
By your Spirit, may I walk in integrity.
By your Spirit, may I work justice.
By your Spirit, may I speak truth.

Keep me from the works of the flesh:
    Slander, maintaining anger, doing evil
That I may not be despised.

Allow me to do good to your people
    Thus I may never be shaken.
        -based on Psalm 15





“O Lord our God,
Grant us grace to desire you with a whole heart, so that desiring you we may seek and find you; and so finding you, may love you; and loving you, may hate those sins which separate us from you, for the sake of Jesus Christ.”
        -Anselm





“O God, the well of love and Father of all,
Make us so to love that we know nothing
But to love every man in Jesus Christ your Son our Lord.”
        -14th Century Collect




“Father we praise you
For your miracle of love
By which you used the death of Jesus on the cross
To set us free.
The place of defeat has become the place of victory;
In the humiliation of one man
We are confronted by your glory
Where life was lost
We find eternal life”
        -Alan Gaunt




My Father, I abandon myself to You.  I surrender all I have and all I am into your care—but not because I am ready for whatever may be thrown at me.  I am weak, Father, and, given enough provocation, I will fall.  Rather, I place my whole self into your hands because of your loving care.  You recognize my weaknesses and you will help me through them, never giving me more that I can handle.  You have my all, Father, because you love me better than I love myself.  And because I recognize that whatever pure, holy and abandoned love I have comes from you alone.  Thus I place myself in your hands, without reserve, in boundless confidence because your mercy never ceases and is freely given.  Do with me as you will.





I am being destroyed within:
How I care for the unrighteous!
How I long for their repentance!
But repentance sometimes is a long, long road.
And I am not sure that I have the strength to walk the whole length with them.
I remember the stupid choices I made and I remember my backslides.
And I remember you standing next to me and enduring with me—as painful as it was.
Your strength is greater than mine.
Your love is infinitely more powerful.
Your gentleness endures so much longer.
I am but flesh and spirit.
And the Spirit within me is always ready and willing
But the flesh drags me down and sets limits.
How long can I go on?





Give me your strength.
Give me your love.
Give me your gentleness.
May I be slow to anger, rich in mercy abounding in grace
For the sake of your gospel.