Below is a growing list of some of my very favorite prayers. May they touch your heart and help you commune with God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – just as they’ve done for me.
An Anonymous Prayer
(sometimes attributed to St. Francis; translated from French by my bosom friend, Charisse Groh)
LORD,
In the silence of the beginning of this day
I come to ask for Your peace, wisdom, and strength.
Today, I wish to look at the world with eyes completely filled with love.
To be patient, understanding, and sweet.
To see Your children as You see them,
And only may I see the good in each one.
Close my ears to all evil talk, protect my tongue from all evil.
May only the thoughts which are beneficial reside in my spirit, body, and soul.
May I be so kindhearted and so joyous that all who approach me will feel, smell, and sense your presence.
Dress me in Your beauty, LORD, and for the length of this day, may I reveal you.
Amen.
Mother Teresa’s Daily Prayer
Dear Jesus, help me to spread Thy fragrance everywhere I go. Flood my soul with Thy spirit and love. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that all my life may only be a radiance of Thine. Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel Thy presence in my soul. Let them look up and see no longer me but only Jesus. Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as you shine, so to shine as to be a light to others. Amen.
We give you thanks, most gracious God, for the beauty of
earth and sky and sea; for the richness of mountains, plains,
and rivers; for the songs of birds and the loveliness of flowers.
We praise you for these good gifts, and pray that we may
safeguard them for our posterity. Grant that we may continue
to grow in our grateful enjoyment of your abundant creation,
to the honor and glory of your Name, now and for ever. Amen.
we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks
for all your goodness and loving-kindness
to us and to all whom you have made.
We bless you for our creation, preservation,
and all the blessings of this life;
but above all for your immeasurable love
in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ;
for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory.
And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies,
that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise,
not only with our lips, but in our lives,
by giving up our selves to your service,
and by walking before you
in holiness and righteousness all our days;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit,
be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen.
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.
Reflections 