Spontaneous prayer, prayed in our own words, can be heartfelt, personal, and real. It can also be repetitious, shallow, and unfocused. Good printed prayers, written by others, read and meditated upon, can be a helpful aid to our prayer life. Today’s meditation consists of a few prayers that might be useful to you. Print them out, cut, and save those you find meaningful, and keep them in your Bible for future reference. These prayers are not shallow, but have a depth that most people cannot achieve in an off-the-cuff prayer. They are best prayed slowly, with careful thought given to each phrase. These well-worded, deep, and meaningful sentences may then inspire your own personal spontaneous prayers; thus, giving you an opportunity to benefit from both types of prayer.
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The first three are by Scottish pastor William Barclay (1907-1978).
FOR GOD’S PROTECTION:
O God, you are the help of the helpless. It is for your defense and protection that we ask today. Defend us against the changes and chances of this life. Not that we may escape them, but that we may meet them with head erect and with steady eyes; not that we may be saved from them, but that we may come triumphantly through them. Defend us from discouragement in difficulty, from despair in failure, from pride in success, and from forgetting you in the day of prosperity. Help us to remember that you will not ever fail us, for there will never be a moment that we do not need you. Grant that guided by your light and defended by your grace, we may come in safety and honor to our journey’s end. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
FOR REPENTENCE AND FORGIVENESS:
Save us, O God, from the blindness which is not even aware that it is sinning; from the pride which will not admit that it is wrong; from the self-will which sees nothing but its own way; from the self-righteousness which can see no flaw within itself; from the callousness which has sinned so often that it has ceased to care; from the defiance which is not even sorry for its sins; and from the evasion which always puts the blame on someone or on something else. Save us from the heart so hardened, that it cannot repent. Give us at all times eyes which are open to our own faults; a conscience which is sensitive and quick to warn; and a heart which cannot sin in peace, but which is moved to regret and to remorse. O God, so grant that being truly penitent we may be truly forgiven; believing that your love is great enough to cover all our sin; through Jesus Christ our lord. Amen.
FOR HELP IN GETTING ALONG WITH OTHERS:
God our Father, who commanded us to live in fellowship with one another, keep us this day from doing anything which would make us difficult to live with. Help us to never, thoughtlessly or deliberately, speak in such a way that we would hurt another’s feelings or wound another’s heart. Keep us from all impatience and irritability, and from a temper which is too quick to explode. Keep us from eyes which are focused to find fault and from a tongue which is tuned to criticize. Keep us from being quick to take offense and slow to forget it. Help us to be not stubborn and obstinate. Keep us from the selfishness which can see nothing but its own point of view and always wants its own way. Grant to us all this day something of the grace and beauty which radiated from our blessed Lord Jesus. Amen.
IN TIMES OF ILLNESS:
Heavenly Father, I bring before in prayer those who are suffering from illness in their bodies, or anxiety and despair in their minds. I pray for healing in body and spirit for: ________. I pray also for myself, and my own health concerns and worries, especially: _________.
Lord, you teach us in your Word that we may learn from our sufferings and by them grow in our faith. For this I pray, O Lord, even though it can be such a hard lesson. I pray this for myself and for others. May we all, by our troubles, be brought closer to you.
Lord, we have learned from medical research how complex and wonderfully we are made by you, and how you have built into our own bodies a most wonderful healing power. For this I give you thanks; may I never take it for granted.
Lord, we know that we must one day die. You have also revealed to us the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, who died and rose from the dead with the promise that we too, by faith in Him, may overcome death. For this, I give you thanks, knowing now that no illness of body or mind can ultimately defeat me.
When death does come, may I be a witness to my faith in you, and a witness to the hope you have placed in my heart.
I pray that you preserve me from a sudden and unprepared death. If it is an illness that gives me time to get my house in order and be ready to meet you in eternity, then for such an illness may I have the faith and the wisdom to give you thanks. All this I pray in the name of Jesus name. Amen.
A BLESSING:
Now may the Almighty God, Ruler of heaven and earth, watch over your life, and give you protection each day. May his Spirit fill you with the hope of knowing that his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, will return. And may that hope help you to become a better person, who knows God, performs his will, and gives him praise, both now and always. Amen.
–Pastor Chuck Smith (adapted)
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Psalm 130:1-2 — Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive; to my cry for mercy.
Psalm 19:13-14 — Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, Lord, my rock, and my redeemer.
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