Prayer of Abandonment

Father, I abandon myself into your hands;
do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you:
I am ready for all, I accept all.

Let only your will be done in me,
and in all your creatures -
I wish no more than this, O Lord.

Into your hands I commend my soul:
I offer it to you with all the love of my heart,
for I love you, Lord, and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into your hands without reserve,
and with boundless confidence,
for you are my Father.

-Charles de Foucald

Eucharist Prayer

Come and be here
Steal past my fears
O wounded healer
O humble leader
Show me your hands
Show me your side
O holy victim
O crucified

I will receive you now
I will receive your love
I will believe in you
I will go on with you

Speak to my heart
Bring me your peace
O broken Saviour
O gentle fighter

Breathe on my face
The breath of life
O my Christ let me
Share in your life

Bring to my lips now
Your blood and body
O bread of heaven
O hope of glory
Send me in love
Into the world
O faithful teacher
Wisdom of God

"I Will Receive You Now" - by Doug Gay with Jonny Baker and Proost

Another Prayer for My Enemies

God, there are people who don't like us. There are people down here who don't mind to see us hurt in order to get what they want. It's so hard to pray for them, God. Then again, Jesus just said to do it. He didn't say it would be easy. We all feel like our lives are missing something, God. If there's one thing we have in common, we all ache. Those who hurt us must ache, too. I wonder... Fill their lives, God. Give them what they need. They have hidden pain. Heal them. Forgive them. Then come talk with us and explain how this all works. Amen.

-adapted from The Book of Uncommon Prayer by Steven Case

Prayer for Guidance

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 I will 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.

- Thomas Merton, "Thoughts in Solitude"

Pottery

Be merciful, God. The fire burns. I am just clay. I will crack and fall apart in your hands. I feel hopeless and hungry. I am frightened of the fire and the water. But you are the potter, and I am the clay. Shape me. Remake me. Mold me in a thousand ways, God. I am your servant. I will be a jar full of glorious treasures. Amen.

-from The Book of Uncommon Prayer by Steven Case

Prayer of Cleopas

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.

Psalm 13

How long O Lord will You forget
How long O Lord will You look the other way
How long O Lord must I wrestle with my thoughts
And every day have such sorrow in my heart
Look on the poor, the weak, the orphan, and widow
Look on me and answer
O God my Father

How long will the defenseless be without a defender
Caught and caged
For everyone to point and stare
Empires of neighborhood boys
Empires of family and nations
With evil cunning, the slick and powerful
Offer the candy-coated bitter apple of empty promise
Stripping the ignorant orphan of his last hope

Bring light to the darkness
Before they see them fall
But I trust in your unfailing love
And my heart will rejoice
You have been good, You will be good to me
Will You be good, will You be good to them?

OMG!

Broken

Broken...I now talk with God.
O Lord Jesus my Saviour.
Today my heart is empty.
Pride is the thing I will miss least when time comes to an end.
I need a priest.
I need a preacher.
I need an exorcist to banish the snake I've been handling called...self.
Broken...I now talk to God.

-Ben Pearson

The Tax Collector

"God be merciful to me, a sinner."

Shalom for the Ragamuffins

May the "Shalom voice" of the true Lord Jesus live in my heart with its power to give itself away. For your child, Oh God, grant grace to receive it and give it to the people of your heart - the broken, fatherless, widow, voiceless, nameless, and anxious. Give me courage to feed the mouth that bites the hand that feeds it. Amen

Hosanna

Save now, O Lord, from the quagmire of litigous, partisan religion. Break the tethers that reduce us to a deductive knowledge of You. Save us from the futility of self-preserving thought and action. Have mercy and lift us from the soul-stripping centrifuge of egocentric and self-defining ideology. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth. Be the Scandal. I'll be here waiting for you to start with me. Amen.

Prayers from a Penlight

You look up one summer night and see
The billion burning suns of the Milky Way.
You've been informed this is barely a drop in the cosmic ocean,
So you snap a self-portrait
All hair and glasses and dental work,
And hold it up to the sky.
"KNOW ME."
-from "Prayerbook" by Billy Crockett