The Evangelical Universalist Forum

Prayers For When You Need Some Help Praying

Update: Hey guys, Dick recommended that I try organizing this thread along the same lines as Pog’s Universalists thread, so I was going to try and take a crack at it. So I’ll go ahead and organize all of the prayers that are shared into this OP, and go by Dick’s recommendations for categories, at least initially, while adding Humor for good measure, since we’ve had a couple humorous prayers shared thus far. :slight_smile:
I’ll try to put all of the prayers that have been shared thus far by all into the categories that I think they most seem suited to, but I’m definitely open to open to suggestions and shifting things around if need be.

With my wedding coming up in a few months, I can’t promise that I’ll be able to keep up with this, but I’m willing to give it a try. :slight_smile:

Before I get started on that though, here’s my OP message, excluding my first two prayers that I shared, which I’ll insert into whatever category that they seem best to fit into:

And here’s Dick’s post including some suggestions:

Alright, with all of that said, let’s get started, and thank you all for your contributions thus far, and for whatever contributions any of you may make in the future :slight_smile:

Repentance

Petition

Thanksgiving

Praise

Contemplation

Blessings and Exhortation

**Humor **

Other

Excellent idea for a topic, Matt! I’ve been thinking about the nature of prayer and the nature of language a lot since [tag]Kate[/tag] started the George MacDonald “It Shall not be Forgiven” topic. This because he starts out by talking about the inadequacy of human language to express ideas and truths. This made an impression on me and I realized that when I “think” a thing in my heart, without words, toward God, THAT is a prayer. I don’t have to come up with words at all, which is a relief, because often I feel I’m repeating myself to no purpose.

I got a picture of a wire facade with the bars all made of words, words, words, and inside is the truth which we cannot share from one heart to another – not without using words. So words, while affording us one of the best means of communication we have, do tend to get into the way. Maybe that’s why Kate likes to pray with the Rosary – because she can let the words wash over her mind while her heart gets down to the true business of genuine prayer and communion with our Father. I know, though, that simply sitting with Him in mutual love for one another, IS prayer. I don’t always have to be “getting down to business.” He knows what needs to be done. He just wants to have us know HIM, I think.

I used to think these pre-made prayers were lame, but that’s SO wrong. They’re beautiful and powerful and they speak to our souls and change us. Here’s one of my favorites:

Love, Cindy

I totally agree, Cinders (and by extension, Matt :smiley: .) I think it’s essential that Christ says out of the heart, our mouth speaks. Words are just a way of communicating in our imperfect world. They are a necessity here, but not necessarily always.

Personally, I typically pray silently. Sometimes (usually even), I don’t use any words at all, even in my head. I just picture who needs help, or what needs to be done, and let God’s spirit sync with my own as I just sorta think. That’s why I find using the rosary to be quite helpful, along with other ‘pre-made’ prayers.’ Saying words–but not necessarily having to concoct them myself–helps me to concentrate on staying in ‘prayer mode.’ Otherwise, I get really distracted pretty quickly.

More to come later.:slight_smile: Good topic, Matt! :slight_smile:

Kate

The London Bus Driver’s Prayer:

Our Father
Who art in Hendon
Harrow Road be Thy name
Thy Kingston come
Thy Wimbledon
In Erith as it is in Hendon
Give us this day our Berkhampstead
And forgive us our Westminsters
As we forgive those who Westminster against us
Lead us not into Temple Station
And deliver us from Ealing
For thine is the Kingston
The Purley and the Crawley
For Iver and Iver
Crouch End

by Ian Dury

All things dull and ugly
All creatures short and squat
All things rude and nasty
The Lord God made the lot

Each little snake that poisons
Each little wasp that stings
He made their brutish venom
He made their horrid wings

All things sick and cancerous
All evil great and small
All things foul and dangerous
The Lord God made them all

Each nasty little hornet
Each beastly little squid
Who made the spiky urchin?
Who made the sharks? He did

All things scabbed and ulcerous
All pox both great and small
Putrid, foul and gangrenous
The Lord God made them all

Amen

by Python, Monty

Chaplain: Let us praise God. Oh Lord.
Congregation: Oh Lord.
Chaplain: Oooh you are so big.
Congregation: Oooh you are so big.
Chaplain: So absolutely huge.
Congregation: So absolutely huge.
Chaplain: Gosh, we’re all really impressed down here I can tell you.
Congregation: Gosh, we’re all really impressed down here I can tell you.
Chaplain: Forgive Us, O Lord, for this our dreadful toadying.
Congregation: And barefaced flattery.
Chaplain: But you are so strong and, well, just so super.
Congregation: Fantastic.
All: Amen.

by Python, Monty

Cindy, Kate:

I agree with you guys, it’s really in that quiet place in the heart where the magic happens :slight_smile:
But then sometimes words can help us get there, can help us focus and make that connection, or at least that’s how it works for me, though I admit those times of connection, of communion, nowadays tend to be uncommon and fleeting at best… :neutral_face:

Anyways, when I use prayers like Bonhoeffer’s, I just kind of put my thoughts and feelings into the words as I say them, whether out loud or in my head (more often in my head), so in a way the words have layers behind them, layers of myself, or of my inner world, as it were, that I’m offering to God… probably sounds all mystical, but hey, I believe I’m a mystic at heart, and I say that without shame. :slight_smile:

And I admit I have an easier time doing this when it’s someone else’s words, rather than my own, unless they were prayers of mine that I wrote down, rather than ones I’m making up on the spot.

I also admit that asking for help, whether for myself or for others, comes more naturally than giving thanks… for me, this is an area that needs for some work. Maybe if I find more pre-made prayers of thanksgiving that might help with that. :slight_smile:

Thanks for your feedback ladies, and may you be blessed :slight_smile:

Johnny:

:laughing:

I can’t say there’s much deep spiritual benefit to those prayers, mate, but then again laughter is good for the soul. :wink:

:laughing: Johnny, my brother and I were just talking about Monty Python. There was this person at my school who would walk down the hallway in a horse gallop–with his friend behind him playing the coconuts. 100% true!

Here’s an English universalist prayer printed in the early sixteenth century by Caxton that I’ve shared here before Matt :slight_smile:

‘Be merciful, Lord, through Thy glorious resurrection to the souls of all the faithful departed; and be merciful to those souls who have none to intercede for them, for whom there is no consolation or hope in their torment, save that they were made in Thine image. Spare them, Lord spare them, and defend Thy work in them, and give not the honour of Thy name, we pray Thee, to another. Despise not the work of Thy hands in them, but put forth Thy right hand, and free them from the intolerable pains and anguish of hell, and lead them to the fellowship of the citizens on high, for Thy holy Name’s sake’

Beautiful prayer, Dick. Did you post that on All Hallows?

Regarding Cindy’s thoughts on unspoken prayer, I think there is much to be said for the prayer-like nature of living day-by-day faithfully. Growing up, my mom always taught me how even the simplest tasks, when done well, were like prayers and worship. Some days, I feel like I just don’t have much to tell God, but if I say the laundry and homework and cooking are for Him, then I still feel like we spoke that day.

Yes Kate, I did post the All Souls prayer then - well remembered. Here’s a prayer about what you’ve said - it’s by George Herbert the Anglican:

Teach me, my God and King,
in all things thee to see,
and what I do in anything
to do it as for thee.

A man that looks on glass,
on it may stay his eye;
or if he pleaseth, through it pass,
and then the heaven espy.

All may of thee partake;
nothing can be so mean,
which with this tincture, “for thy sake,”
will not grow bright and clean.

A servant with this clause
makes drudgery divine:
who sweeps a room, as for thy laws,
makes that and the action fine.

This is the famous stone
that turneth all to gold;
for that which God doth touch and own
cannot for less be told.

LOVE it, Dick. :smiley: And the songs you sent me – beautiful! Thanks. :smiley:

Hey guys, thanks for your contributions thus far, and hopefully we can keep this going so people can have a place on the forum to find some prayers that they can go through that might help them to focus or give them words to follow along with, so maybe they have an easier time praying, kind of like a devotional :slight_smile:

There’s a lot more prayers I’ve run across here and there that I could share, but for now, with it being Mother’s Day and all, I thought it would be fitting to share a prayer for Mother’s Day. :slight_smile:

I ran across a prayer just now online that I think is beautiful as well as honest, and it covers a lot of ground and speaks to all sides, so I thought it would be a really good one to share:

I’m thinking that’s a prayer that all of us can pray along with today. Blessings to you all, and Happy Mother’s Day, especially to all of the mothers here on the forum :slight_smile:

  • Matt

From “Love Thine Enemy,” Unspoken Sermons by George MacDonald:

Sonia

Beautiful prayers, Dick, Matt, and Sonia. Matt, I think the pastor at my mom’s church recited that prayer for Mother’s Day last year-- I thought it was lovely then, as I do now. Thanks for reminding me.:slight_smile:

:slight_smile: Yes – heart speaking prayers. Thanks! :cry:

Matt you are finding some lovely prayers here!! :smiley:

Here’s another favourite of mine:
**
Praying For Our Enemies**

Most merciful and loving Father,
We beseech Thee most humbly, even with all our hearts,
To pour out upon our enemies with bountiful hands
Whatsoever things Thou knowest may do them good.
And chiefly a sound and uncorrupt mind,
Where-through they may know Thee and love Thee
In true charity and with their whole heart.
And love us, Thy children, for Thy sake.
Let not their first hating of us turn to their harm,
But seeing that we cannot do them good for want of ability,
Lord, we desire their amendment and our own.
Separate them not from us by punishing them,
But join and knit them to us by Thy favourable dealing with them.
And seeing we be all ordained to citizens of the one everlasting city,
Let us begin to enter into that way here already by mutual love,
Which may bring us right forth thither. Amen.

(Anonymous Elizabethan Prayer, printed in Victor Gollancz, A Year of Grace, p.177)

An Orthodox Prayer for the Peace of the World:

O God and Master, Almighty Father, Lord of heaven and earth, Who for our salvation was born of a Virgin, and taught men to have love and peace among each other, send down Your heavenly grace and have mercy on us, according to Your great mercy, and deliver us from every want.

Cease the fragmentation of the nations, grant peace to our lives, deliver us and Your world from every danger that faces us, and teach the leaders of the nations to resolve their differences in peace and to be in all ways peace-makers, deposing all barbarian nations who desire war.

Send down the dove, bearing the olive branch in its mouth, as a symbol of reconciliation, deliver our brothers in captivity, keep our rulers in peace and harmony, and grant to us deep and inalienable peace, which surpasses all understanding, that we might live our life in peace and silence, praying to You for the peace of the whole world, and for our pious nation, having your alliance as a weapon of peace, and invincible standard.

For You are the King of peace, and the Savior of our souls, and to You we offer up glory, to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

And this is not so much a prayer but is from the Paschal homily of St John Chrysostom but can be made a prayer and is one that right now I find allot of power in:

If any be a devout lover of God,
let him partake with gladness from this fair and radiant feast.
If any be a faithful servant,
let him enter rejoicing into the joy of his Lord.
If any have wearied himself with fasting,
let him now enjoy his reward.
If any have laboured from the first hour,
let him receive today his rightful due.
If any have come after the third,
let him celebrate the feast with thankfulness.
If any have come after the sixth,
let him not be in doubt, for he will suffer no loss.
If any have delayed until the ninth,
let him not hesitate but draw near.
If any have arrived only at the eleventh,
let him not be afraid because he comes so late.
For the Master is generous and accepts the last even as the first.
He gives rest to him who comes at the eleventh hour
in the same was as him who has laboured from the first.
He accepts the deed, and commends the intention.
Enter then, all of you, into the joy of our Lord.
First and last, receive alike your reward.
Rich and poor, dance together.
You who fasted and you who have not fasted, rejoice together.
The table is fully laden: let all enjoy it.
The calf is fatted: let none go away hungry.
Let none lament his poverty;
for the universal Kingdom is revealed.
Let none bewail his transgressions;
for the light of forgiveness has risen from the tomb.
Let none fear death;
for death of the Saviour has set us free.
He has destroyed death by undergoing death.
He has despoiled hell by descending into hell.
He vexed it even as it tasted of His flesh.
Isaiah foretold this when he cried:
Hell was filled with bitterness when it met Thee face to face below;
filled with bitterness, for it was brought to nothing;
filled with bitterness, for it was mocked;
filled with bitterness, for it was overthrown;
filled with bitterness, for it was put in chains.
Hell received a body, and encountered God. It received earth, and confronted heaven.
O death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?
Christ is risen! And you, o death, are annihilated!
Christ is risen! And the evil ones are cast down!
Christ is risen! And the angels rejoice!
Christ is risen! And life is liberated!
Christ is risen! And the tomb is emptied of its dead;
for Christ having risen from the dead,
is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
To Him be Glory and Power, now and forever, and from all ages to all ages.
Amen!

And though perhaps it’s obvious I think it’s still worth putting forward the central prayer itself, the New Exodus prayer:

Our Father in Heaven,
hallowed be your Name,
your Kingdom come,
Your will be done,
on Earth as it is in Heaven,
Give us today our daily bread,
And forgive us our debts,
as we have also forgiven our debtors,
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
Amen

Beautiful prayers, dear brothers! And yours, for enemies, Dick, is especially apropos for me. Very helpful and encouraging. It’s hard sometimes to know how to pray for someone who hates us. NightRevan, your homily made my spirit soar. Thank you so much!

Matt this is a great little project of yours. I’m not going to go all out for the clappers seeking for prayers and posting them like I did on the Pog thread (where I seem to remember someone else volunteered me :wink: :laughing: But it might be an idea to organise these prayers under headings as they come in - and yes if anyone knows a little about the author of their prayer, and the occasion for the writing of the prayer and can supply it that would be very interesting too.

If you’d like me to do entries for the three prayers I have supplied as a sort of template fro you I’m happy to oblige (I guess it would be a bit like/same as Pog’s template). But apart from this I will leave all completely in your hands.

I think it would be lovely to have the OP as a sticky thread on which organise these Matt. I don’t think you’ll get inundated. IT will grow gradually and you’ll enjoy begin editor/gatekeeper. :slight_smile: