December Prayers: One Final Prayer for 2016

I'll close this series of simple prayers and end the year with the 'breath prayer' that I pray daily, sometimes many times during the day:

Psalm 119:94a

"I am yours; save me..."

God is with you as you enter into a new year with Him.

December Prayers: The Creator Knows Me

Psalm 139:1-18 (CEB):

Lord, you have examined me.
    You know me.
² You know when I sit down and when I stand up.
    Even from far away, you comprehend my plans.
³ You study my traveling and resting.
    You are thoroughly familiar with all my ways.
⁴ There isn’t a word on my tongue, Lord,
    that you don’t already know completely.
⁵ You surround me—front and back.
    You put your hand on me.
⁶ That kind of knowledge is too much for me;
    it’s so high above me that I can’t fathom it.

⁷ Where could I go to get away from your spirit?
    Where could I go to escape your presence?
⁸ If I went up to heaven, you would be there.
    If I went down to the grave,^[a] you would be there too!
⁹ If I could fly on the wings of dawn,
    stopping to rest only on the far side of the ocean—
¹⁰         even there your hand would guide me;
        even there your strong hand would hold me tight!
¹¹ If I said, “The darkness will definitely hide me;
        the light will become night around me,”
¹²     even then the darkness isn’t too dark for you!
        Nighttime would shine bright as day,
        because darkness is the same as light to you!

¹³ You are the one who created my innermost parts;
    you knit me together while I was still in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I give thanks to you that I was marvelously set apart.
    Your works are wonderful—I know that very well.
¹⁵ My bones weren’t hidden from you
    when I was being put together in a secret place,
    when I was being woven together in the deep parts of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my embryo,
    and on your scroll every day was written that was being formed for me,^[b]
    before any one of them had yet happened.^[c]
17 God, your plans are incomprehensible to me!
    Their total number is countless!
¹⁸ If I tried to count them—they outnumber grains of sand!
    If I came to the very end—I’d still be with you.^[d]

December Prayers: Teach Me to Forgive

A prayer from Andrew Murray's book, Teach Me to Pray:

"Blessed Father, you are Love, and only he who abides in love abides in you and in fellowship with you...O God, let your love, planted in my heart by the Holy Spirit, be in me a fountain of love to all those around me, that out of my life may spring the power of believing prayer. Especially help me to find in the joy with which I forgive day by day whoever might offend me, the proof that your forgiveness is power and life.

"Lord Jesus, my blessed teacher, teach me to forgive. Let the power of your blood make the pardon of my sins such a reality that forgiveness, as shown by you to me and by me to others, be the very joy of heaven..."

December Prayers: Your Loving-kindness is Greater...

Psalm 108:1-5

My heart is firmly fixed, O God, my heart is fixed.
     I will sing and make melody.
Wake up, my spirit; awake, lute and harp;
     I myself will waken the dawn.
I will confess you among the peoples, O Lord;
     I will sing praises to you among the nations.
For your loving-kindness is greater than the heavens,
     and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
Exalt yourself above the heavens, O God,
     and your glory over all the earth.

December Prayers: O Lord, Our Shepherd

Another prayer from the St. Francis Prayer Book:


                                         O Lord, our shepherd:
                              You revive our soul, you guide our path,
                                     and save us from death each day.
                              We always want to be in your company. Amen.

December Prayers: Renew a Right Spirit within Me

Psalm 51:

"Have mercy on me, O God, according to your lovingkindness;
      in your great compassion, blot out my offenses.
 Wash me through and through from my wickedness
      and cleanse me from my sin.
 For I know my transgressions, 
      and my sin is ever before me.
 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
      and renew a right spirit within me.
 Cast me not away from your presence
      and take not your holy Spirit from me.
 Give me the joy of your saving help again
      and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit.
 Deliver me from death, O God, 
      and my tongue shall sing of your righteousness,
      O God of my salvation."

December Prayers: All Fairest Beauty, Jesus, Is Found in Thee

Because there is some controversy as to the origins of this well-known Christian hymn, I'll give you this link to read up on it, if you are interested: Link to history of this poem/prayer
 

Fairest Lord Jesus,
Ruler of all nature,
O Thou of God and man the Son,
Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor,
Thou, my soul's glory, joy and crown.

Fair are the meadows, fairer still the woodlands,
Robed in the blooming garb of spring;
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,
Who makes the woeful heart to sing.

Fair is the sunshine,
Fairer still the moonlight,
And all the twinkling starry host;
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer
Than all the angels heaven can boast.

All fairest beauty, heavenly and earthly,
Wondrously, Jesus, is found in Thee;
None can be nearer, fairer or dearer,
Than Thou, my Savior, art to me.

Beautiful Savior! Lord of all the nations!
Son of God and Son of Man!
Glory and honor, praise, adoration,
Now and forever more be Thine.

December Prayers: Jesus, God with Us

The following is a prayer of mine in the form of poetry, written many years ago:

Dear precious, tender holy Babe,
Who in Your mother's womb was made,
Find deep within this heart of mine
Seclusion sweet for birth divine.

Dear gentle, strong and perfect Man,
Who with Your Father one did stand,
Grant me a heart that runs to be
One in mind and will with Thee.

Dear humble, bleeding, spotless Lamb
Whose life true justice did demand,
Make me a heart that gladly yields
To death, that others may be healed.

Dear glorious, gracious triumphant King
Whose name alone makes heaven ring,
Plant deep inside this yielded heart
Sweet praise that never shall depart.

December Prayers: Enlargement of My Soul

A favorite prayer of mine from St. Augustine:

"The house of my soul is small...
  Do Thou enter in and 
        enlarge it."

December Prayers: Jesus, The Spring of Radiant Love

The following is a prayer of Brother Thomas of Celano:                                    

                                              Holy and blessed One,
                                              Help the spring of radiant love that fills our hearts
                                                     to gush forth.
                                              Jesus in our hearts,
                                              Jesus in our mouths,
                                              Jesus in our ears,
                                              Jesus in our eyes,
                                              Jesus in our hands,
                                                    as we make our way in the world. Amen.

December Prayers: Make Us Your People

A brief but meaningful prayer from N.T. Wright:

"Lord, teach us to pray; teach us to forgive; make us your people. Yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory."

December Prayers: Loving My 'Neighbor'

The following comments and prayer is taken from Prayers and Meditations of Therese of Lisieux:

"...we more often treat those around us as inconsequential than as holy. People can be irritating and mean-tempered and our instinctive reaction is to give as good as we get. Therese felt the same impulse but, clinging to the gospel, she returned good for evil."

Her prayer related to this:

"Lord, nothing you ask me to do seems as difficult as loving my 'neighbor.' Give me the strength not only to love when my 'neighbor' is most unlovable, but to find joy in doing so. Prevent me from giving way to the impatience and anger that wounds others. Help me to act on the knowledge that we are all created in your image. Through Christ our Lord. Amen."

December Prayers: Peace for My Soul

The following prayer is from St Francesca Xavier Cabrini (late 19th century):

                         Fortify me with the grace of Your Holy Spirit and give Your peace to my soul 
                         that I may be free from all needless anxiety, solicitude and worry. 
                         Help me to desire always that which is pleasing and acceptable to You 
                         so that Your will may be my will.

December Prayers: Love More Powerful than Knowledge

Taken from the book, The St. Francis Prayer Book:                           

                                     Abba, Father, 
                                     cleanse our hearts of sin this day,
                                     reminding us that love is more powerful
                                     than knowledge or judgment.
                                     Fill our weak vessels with the
                                     fruits of righteousness,
                                     through Jesus Christ,
                                     for your glory and honor. Amen.

December Prayers: Longing to Know God

As the year draws to a close, I plan to periodically share simple prayers from scripture and other sources with the hope that the reader's heart will be strengthened and encouraged to complete the year in peace and grace and to face the new year with hope.

I begin with the following prayer from Cuigo the Carthusian:

Lord, you are not seen except by the pure of heart. I seek by reading and meditating what is true purity of heart and how it may be had, so that with its help I may know you, if only a little.
Lord, for long I have meditated in my heart, seeking to see your face. It is the sight of you, Lord, that I have sought; and all the while in my meditation the fire of longing, the desire to know you  more fully, has increased...So give me, Lord, some pledge of what I hope to inherit, at least one drop of heavenly rain with which to refresh my thirst, for I am on fire with love.