See also “Prayers of Praise and Thanksgiving,” “Prayers of Supplication,” and “Prayers for Illumination Before Reading the Scriptures.”
COLLECT FOR PURITY
Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hidden: cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy name: through Christ our Lord. Amen.
FORGIVE ME, A SINNER: A PRAYER OF AMBROSE
Lord Jesus Christ, who stretched out your hands on the cross, and redeemed us by your blood: forgive me, a sinner, for none of my thoughts are hidden from you. Pardon I ask; pardon I hope for; pardon I trust to have. You who are full of pity and mercy: spare me, and forgive. Amen.
A NEW HEART: A PRAYER OF AMBROSE
O Lord, you have mercy upon all; take away from me my sins, and mercifully kindle in me the fire of your Holy Spirit. Take away from me the heart of stone, and give me a heart of flesh, a heart to love and adore you, a heart to delight in you, to follow and to enjoy you, for Christ’s sake. Amen.
SPIRITUAL AFFECTIONS: A PRAYER OF ANSELM
O Almighty and merciful Father, you pour your benefits upon us; forgive the unthankfulness with which we have repaid your goodness. We have remained before you with dead and senseless hearts, unkindled with love of your gentle and enduring goodness. Turn us, O merciful Father, and so shall we be turned. Make us with our whole heart to hunger and thirst after you, and with all our longing to desire you. Amen.
CHRIST OUR REDEMPTION: A PRAYER OF JOHN WESLEY
O merciful Father, regard not what we have done against you, but what our blessed Savior has done for us. Regard not what we have made ourselves; but what he is made unto us by you, our God. O that Christ may be to every one of our souls, wisdom and righteousness, sanctification and redemption! That his precious blood may cleanse us from all our sins; and that your Holy Spirit may renew and sanctify our souls. May he crucify our flesh with its affections and lusts, and mortify all our members which are upon earth. O let not sin reign in our mortal bodies, that we should obey in the lusts thereof; but being made free from sin, let us be the servants of righteousness. Amen.
LENTEN PRAYER OF ST. EPHREM OF SYRIA
O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of laziness, despair, lust of power, and idle talk. But give rather the spirit of purity, humility, patience, and love to your servant. Yes, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge my brother, for blessed are you, unto ages of ages. Amen.
REIGN IN US: A PRAYER OF BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX
O Lord, come quickly and reign on your throne, for now something often rises up within me, and tries to take possession of your throne: pride, covetousness, uncleanness, and sloth want to be my kings, and then evil-speaking, anger, hatred, and the whole train of vices join with me in warring against myself, and try to reign over me. I resist them; I cry out against them, and say, “I have no other king than Christ.” O King of peace, come and reign in me, for I will have no other king but you! Amen.
A PRAYER OF ANSELM FOR ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION
Lord, because you have made me, I owe you the whole of my love; because you have redeemed me, I owe you the whole of myself; because you have promised so much, I owe you my whole being. I ask you, Lord, to make me taste by love what I taste by knowledge; let me know by love what I know by understanding. I owe you more than my whole self, but I have no more, and by myself I cannot render the whole of it to you. Draw me to you, Lord, in the fullness of your love. I am wholly yours by creation; make me all yours, too, in love. Amen.
A PRAYER OF AUGUSTINE FOR COMPLETE HOLINESS
Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy. Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy. Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I love but what is holy. Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy. Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy. Amen.
A PRAYER OF THOMAS AQUINAS
Grant me, O Lord my God, a mind to know you, a heart to seek you, wisdom to find you, conduct pleasing to you, faithful perseverance in waiting for you, and a hope of finally embracing you. Amen.
PEACE PRAYER OF ST. FRANCIS
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O divine Master, grant that I 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.
I AM YOURS: JOHN WESLEY’S COVENANT PRAYER
I am no longer my own, but yours. Put me to what you will; rank me with whom you will. Put me to doing; put me to suffering. Let me be employed for you or laid aside for you, exalted for you or brought low for you. Let me be full; let me be empty. Let me have all things; let me have nothing. I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to your pleasure and disposal. And now, glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, you are mine and I am yours. So be it. And the covenant made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.
A GENERAL CONFESSION FOR USE AT DAILY PRAYER
Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred and strayed from your ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against your holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done; and there is no health in us. But you, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders. Spare them, O God, who confess their faults. Restore them that are penitent, according to your promise declared unto mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord. And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake, that we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life, to the glory of your holy name. Amen.
A GENERAL CONFESSION FOR USE AT THE LORD’S SUPPER
Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Maker of all things, Judge of all men; we acknowledge and lament our many sins and wickedness, which we have, from time to time, most grievously committed, by thought, word, and deed, against your divine majesty, provoking most justly your wrath and indignation against us. We earnestly repent, and are sincerely sorry for our misdoings; the remembrance of them is grievous to us. Have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us, most merciful Father. For the sake of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, forgive us all that is past; and grant that we may ever hereafter serve and please you in newness of life, to the honor and glory of your name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
A CONFESSION OF JOHN OF DAMASCUS
O Lord and Master Jesus Christ our God, you alone have power to absolve men from their sins, for you are good and love all people; forgive all my transgressions done in knowledge or in ignorance, and make me worthy without condemnation to have communion of your divine and glorious and pure and life-creating mysteries. Let them not be for my punishment, or for the increase of my sins. But let them be for my purification and sanctification, as a promise of the life and kingdom to come, a defense and a help and a repulsion of every evil attacker, and the removal of my many transgressions. For you are a God of mercy and generosity and love for mankind, and to you we send up glory, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
A CONFESSION OF JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
O God, absolve, remit, and pardon me my transgressions; as many sins as I have committed by word or action or thought, willingly or unwillingly, consciously or unconsciously; forgive me everything since you are good and the lover of men. Be pleased to allow me to receive your most pure Body and your most precious Blood for the healing of my soul and body, and the purification of my evil thoughts. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.