“ACTS” Prayers

(Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication)

1. ADORATION
Scripture Passages for Meditation and Prayer:
Philippians 2:5-11 Revelation 5:1-14
Colossians 1:15-20 Psalm 8:9
Psalm 16:7-11 Psalm 19:1-4a
Psalm 24:1-2 Psalm 46:10-11
Psalm 93:1-2 Psalm 100
Psalm 103 Psalm 115
Psalm 121 Psalm 146
Psalm 150 Isaiah 12
Isaiah 40:9-31 Isaiah 43:10-13
Isaiah 45:5-7 Isaiah 45:22-25
Isaiah 52:7-12 Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Ephesians 1:3-14 1 Peter 1:3-12

The material that follows is taken from The Worship

Sourcebook and reprinted with permission © 2004, CRC
Publications, permission granted December 2015.

Attributes of God
Gracious God, we praise you as the one who is . . .
abundant in truth almighty
beautiful eternal or everlasting
ever present faithful
good gracious
holy incomprehensible
infinite invisible
just living
long-suffering loving
perfect wise

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Actions
Gracious God, you created the world in beauty . . .
you created us in your image and yet more
wonderfully restored us in Christ . . .
you are re-creating the world in Christ . . .
you revealed yourself to us in Christ . . .
you allow us to glimpse your glory in the face of
Christ. . .
you teach, comfort, and challenge us by your Word. . .
you govern this world in power and love . . .
you lead us faithfully . . .
you led your people by fire and cloud . . .
you prepared the way for the coming of your Son . . .
you sent your Son to the world for its salvation . . .
you anointed Jesus your Son with your Spirit at his
baptism…
you raised Jesus from the dead through the power of
the Spirit . . .
you send us out into the world to make disciples . . .
you sent your Holy Spirit to point us to Christ . . .
you send your Holy Spirit to empower the church . . .
you hear our prayers in Jesus’ name . . .
you promise always to be with us . . .
you promise the coming of Christ’s kingdom . . .
you alone can bring healing . . .
you alone can bring unity out of dissension . . .
you alone can conquer evil . . .

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All glorious God, we give you thanks:
in your Son, Jesus Christ,
you have given us every spiritual blessing
in the heavenly realms.
You chose us, before the world was made,
to be your holy people, without fault in your sight.
You adopted us as your children in Christ.
You have set us free by his blood;
you have forgiven our sins.
You have made known to us your secret purpose, to
bring heaven and earth into unity in Christ.
You have given us your Holy Spirit,
the seal and pledge of our inheritance.
All praise and glory be yours, O God, for the richness
of your grace, for the splendor of your gifts,
for the wonder of your love.
—based on Ephesians 1:3-18
We praise you for creating this world in all beauty,
for redeeming the world through Christ, our Lord,
and for sending us the gift of your Spirit
to encourage, instruct, and sustain us.
We long for your Spirit to work among us now,
to inspire our praise, to challenge us with your truth,
and to equip us for service in your world. Amen.

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Eternal God, you are the power behind all things:
behind the energy of the storm,
behind the heat of a million suns.
Eternal God, you are the power behind all minds:
behind the ability to think and reason,
behind all understanding of the truth.
Eternal God, you are the power behind the cross
of Christ:
behind the weakness, the torture, and the death,
behind unconquerable love.
Eternal God, we worship and adore you. Amen.
God of light and truth,
you are beyond our grasp or conceiving.
Before the brightness of your presence
the angels veil their faces.
With lowly reverence and adoring love
we acclaim your glory and sing your praise,
for you have shown us your truth and love
in Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.

Mighty God,
we do not yet see the glory you plan
for all humankind,
but in faith we do see Jesus.
We thank you for the humility and holiness
in which he lived and died.
We praise you that he freed us from our sin,
that he comforts and strengthens us
through our struggles,
and that he gives us courage to follow him.
For this, we now join with all creation
and shout for joy:
Holy, holy, holy are you, Lord! Amen.

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We give thanks to you, God our Father,
for mercy that reaches out,
for patience that waits our returning,
for your love that is ever ready to welcome sinners.
We praise you that in Jesus Christ
you came to us with forgiveness,
and that, by your Holy Spirit,
you move us to repent and receive your love.
Though we are sinners,
you are faithful and worthy of all praise.
We praise you, great God,
in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

The material that follows is taken from The Valley of Vision:

A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions, ed. Arthur
G. Bennett and reprinted with permission © 2003, Banner
of Truth, permission granted December 2015.

Three in One, One in Three, God of my salvation,

Heavenly Father, blessed Son, eternal Spirit,
I adore you as one Being, one Essence,
one God in three distinct Persons,
for bringing sinners to your knowledge
and to your kingdom.
O Father, you have loved me
and sent Jesus to redeem me;
O Jesus, you have loved me and assumed my nature,
shed your own blood to wash away my sins,
produced righteousness to cover my unworthiness;
O Holy Spirit, you have loved me
and entered my heart,
implanted there eternal life,
revealed to me the glories of Jesus.

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Three Persons and one God,
I bless you and praise you,
for love so unmerited, so unspeakable,
so wonderful,
so mighty to save the lost and raise them to glory.
O Father, I thank you that in fullness of grace
you have given me to Jesus,
to be his sheep, jewel, portion;
O Jesus, I thank you that in fullness of grace
you have accepted, embraced, bound me;
O Holy Spirit, I thank you that in fullness of grace
you have exhibited Jesus as my salvation,
implanted faith within me,
subdued my stubborn heart,
made me one with him forever.
O Father, you are enthroned to hear my prayers,
O Jesus, your hand is outstretched
to take my petitions,
O Holy Spirit, you are willing to help my infirmities,
to show me my need, to supply words,
to pray within me,
to strengthen me that I faint not in supplication.
O Triune God, who commands the universe,
you have commanded me to ask for those things
that concern your kingdom and my soul.
Let me live and pray
as one baptized into the threefold Name.

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2. CONFESSION
Scripture Passages for Meditation and Prayer:
Genesis 3:1-7 Psalm 19:12-14
Psalm 139:23-24 Jeremiah 2:11-13
Isaiah 1:2-18 Deuteronomy 8
Romans 2:17-29 1 Corinthians 13
Nehemiah 9:1-37 Psalm 25
Psalm 32 Psalm 38
Psalm 51 Psalm 66:16-20
Psalm 130 1 John 1:8-2:2
Hebrews 4:14-16
Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Days 2-3

The material that follows is taken from The Worship

Sourcebook and reprinted with permission © 2004, CRC
Publications, permission granted December 2015.

Merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you
with our whole heart and mind and strength.
We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
In your mercy forgive what we have been,
help us amend what we are
and direct what we shall be,
so that we may delight in your will
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your holy name.
Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

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O gracious and gentle and condescending God,
God of peace, Father of mercy, God of all comfort:
we confess before you the evil of our hearts;
we acknowledge that we are too inclined
toward anger, jealousy & revenge,
to ambition & pride,
which often give rise
to discord and bitter feelings
between others and us.
Too often have we thus
both offended and grieved you,
O long-suffering Father.
Forgive us this sin
and permit us to partake of the blessing
you have promised the peacemakers,
who shall be called the children of God.
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Almighty God,
we confess how hard it is to be your people.
You have called us to be the church,
to continue the mission of Jesus Christ
to our lonely and confused world.
Yet we acknowledge
we are more apathetic than active,
isolated than involved, callous than compassionate,
obstinate than obedient,
legalistic than loving.
Gracious Lord,
have mercy upon us and forgive our sins.
Remove the obstacles
preventing us from being your representatives
to a broken world.
Awaken our hearts
to the promised gift of your indwelling Spirit.
This we pray in Jesus’ powerful name. Amen.
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Forgive us, O Lord,
for everything that spoils our home life:
for the moodiness and irritability
that make us difficult to live with,
for the insensitivity
that makes us careless of the feelings of others,
for the selfishness that makes life harder for others.
Forgive us, O Lord,
for everything that spoils our witness for you;
that we so often deny with our lives
what we say with our lips;
for the difference
between our creed and our conduct,
our profession and our practice;
for any example that makes it easier
for people to criticize your church
or for another to sin.
When we think of ourselves
and of the meanness and ugliness
and weakness of our lives,
we thank you for Jesus Christ, our Savior.
Grant unto us a true penitence for our sins.
Grant that at the foot of the cross
we may find our burdens rolled away.
And so strengthen us by your Spirit
that in the days to come
we may live more nearly as we ought.
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.

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Lord, we have sinned,
without considering how much you love us.
You see our sins more clearly than we can ourselves.
Lord, you know when we are indifferent
to your Word, the Bible;
how often we forget to pray;
the times we come unwillingly to worship;
and yet we turn to you when we are in trouble.
Lord, you know when we are untruthful
and when we think evil of others.
You see our anger and unfairness to our friends.
You know how hard it is for us to forgive.
Forgive us and make us clean,
so that we can obey your call
to take up your cross and follow you.
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
You asked for my hands,
that you might use them for your purpose.
I gave them for a moment,
then withdrew them, for the work was hard.
You asked for my mouth
to speak out against injustice.
I gave you a whisper that I might not be accused.
You asked for my eyes to see the pain of poverty.
I closed them, for I did not want to see.
You asked for my life,
that you might work through me.
I gave a small part, that I might not get too involved.
Lord, forgive my calculated efforts to serve you—
only when it is convenient for me to do so,
only in those places where it is safe to do so,
and only with those who make it easy to do so.
Father, forgive me, renew me,
send me out as a usable instrument.
that I might take seriously the meaning of your cross.
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Father, forgive us for thinking small thoughts of you
and for ignoring your immensity & greatness.
Lord Jesus, forgive us when we forget
that you rule the nations and our small lives.
Holy Spirit, we offend you in minimizing your power
and squandering your gifts.
We confess that our blindness to your glory,
O triune God, has resulted in shallow confession,
tepid conviction, and only mild repentance.
Have mercy upon us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Great Creator. . .
we thank you for the gift of loving sexual intimacy.
Forgive us the misuse and abuse of that gift.
For taking it too early, with the wrong person,
for replacing love with lust,
for separating concern from self-fulfillment.
Make us pure in love, discerning in passion.
Make us choose commitment over possession.
Christ Jesus, who came
to reconcile and restore all relationships,
heal and restore our fragile or broken marriages.
In your name, Lord, we pray. Amen.

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Lord, you have called us to worship you.
We gladly gather!
As we praise you, though,
our own inadequacy reminds us
of how we have broken our relationship with you.
Because we have sinned against you,
even our worship fails to be what it could.
We often treat it as a show.
We simply go through motions,
failing to recognize
that you want to engage us deeply.
Renew us, we pray, according to your steadfast love.
Remind us of your covenant faithfulness
and have mercy on us in the name of Jesus Christ.

Gracious Father, the God of life,

teach us ever more to respect
and love all the lives you create.
Forgive us our lack of concern and love
for those who are yet unborn,
who are born with impairments,
who are rejected by their parents.
Teach us to open our hearts and our homes
to all your children.
Forgive us when we are negligent and uncaring
for those who are elderly,
for those who are forgotten in nursing homes,
who merely exist in their old age,
who cannot afford medical care,
who suffer from a careless society.
Teach us to open our hearts,
to open our homes and churches,
to visit the lonely,
to bring your love into their lives on this earth.
Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
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The material that follows is taken from The Valley of Vision:
A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions, ed. Arthur
G. Bennett and reprinted with permission © 2003, Banner
of Truth, permission granted December 2015.

O changeless God,
Under the conviction of your Spirit I learn
that the more I do, the worse I am,
the more I know, the less I know,
the more holiness I have, the more sinful I am,
the more I love, the more there is to love.
O wretched man that I am!
O Lord, I have a wild heart
and cannot stand before you.
I am like a bird before a man.
How little I love your truth and ways!
I neglect prayer,
by thinking I have prayed enough and earnestly,
by knowing you have saved my soul.
Of all hypocrites,
grant that I may not be an evangelical hypocrite,
who sins more safely because grace abounds,
who tells his lusts that Christ’s blood cleanses them,
who reasons that God cannot cast him into hell,
for he is saved,
who loves… preaching, churches, Christians,
but lives in unholy ways.
My mind is a bucket without a bottom,
with no spiritual understanding,
no desire for the Lord’s Day,
ever learning but never reaching the truth,
always at the gospel-well but never holding water.
My conscience is without conviction or contrition,
with nothing to repent of.
My will is without power of decision or resolution.
My heart is without affection and full of leaks.
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My memory has not retention,
so I forget easily the lessons learned,
and your truths seep away.
Give me a broken heart
that yet carries home the water of grace.

O Lord, my every sense, member, faculty, affection,

is a snare to me.
I can scarce open my eyes
but I envy those above me, or despise those below.
I covet honour and riches of the mighty,
and am proud and unmerciful to the rags of others;
If I behold beauty it is a bait to lust, or see deformity,
it stirs up loathing and disdain;
How soon do slanders, vain jests,
and wanton speeches creep into my heart!
Am I comely? what fuel for pride! Am I deformed?
What an occasion for repining!
Am I gifted? How I lust after applause!
Am I unlearned? How I despise what I have not!
Am I in authority? How prone to abuse my trust,
make will my law, exclude others’ enjoyments,
serve my own interests and policy!
Am I inferior?
How much I grudge others’ pre-eminence!
Am I rich? How exalted I become!
You know that all these are snares by my corruptions,
and that my greatest snare is myself. . .
Keep me ever mindful of my natural state,
But let me not forget my heavenly title,
or the grace that can deal with every sin.

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Lord Jesus, give me a deeper repentance,
a horror of sin, a dread of its approach;
Help me chastely to flee it,
and jealousy to resolve
that my heart shall be yours alone.
Give me a deeper trust,
that I may lose myself to find myself in you,
the ground of my rest,
the spring of my being.
Give me a deeper knowledge of yourself
as savior, master, lord, and king.
Give me deeper power in prayer,
more sweetness in your Word,
more steadfast grip on its truth.
Give me deeper holiness in speech, thought, action;
let me not seek moral virtue apart from you.
Plough deep in me, great Lord. . .
that my being may be a tilled field,
the roots of grace spreading far and wide,
until you alone are seen in me,
your beauty golden like summer harvest,
your fruitfulness as autumn plenty.
I have no master but you, no law but your will,
no delight but yourself,
no wealth but what you give,
no good but what you bless,
no peace but what you bestow.
I am nothing but what you make me,
I have nothing but what I receive from you,
I can be nothing but what grace adorns me.
Quarry me deep, dear Lord,
and then fill me to overflowing with living water.

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Merciful God,
pardon all my sins of this day, week, year,
all the sins of my life,
sins of my early, middle, and advanced years,
of omission and commission,
of morose, peevish and angry tempers,
of lip, life and walk,
of hard-heartedness, unbelief, presumption, pride,
of unfaithfulness to the souls of men,
of lack of bold decision in the cause of Christ,
of deficiency in outspoken zeal for his glory,
of bringing dishonour upon your great name,
of deception, injustice,
untruthfulness in my dealings with others,
of impurity in thought, word and deed,
of covetousness, which is idolatry,
of substance unduly hoarded,
improvidently squandered,
not consecrated to your glory, the great giver;
sins in private and in the family,
in study and recreation, in the busy haunts of men,
in the study of your Word & in the neglect of it;
in prayer irreverently offered & coldly withheld,
in time misspent,
in yielding to Satan’s wiles,
in opening my heart to his temptations,
in being unwatchful when I know he is near,
in quenching the Holy Spirit;
sins against light and knowledge,
against conscience and the restraints of your Spirit,
against the law of eternal love.
Pardon all my sins, known and unknown,
felt and unfelt, confessed and not confessed,
remembered or forgotten.
Good Lord, hear; and hearing, forgive.
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3. THANKSGIVING

Scripture Passages for Meditation & Prayer:

Psalm 30 Psalm 73:23-28
Psalm 75:1 Psalm 89:1-2
Psalm 105:1-5a Psalm 106:1-2
Psalm 107 Psalm 116
Psalm 118 Psalm 126
Psalm 136 Luke 17:11-19
Romans 5:6-8 1 John 4:9-12
Philippians 4:4-7
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
1 Corinthians 1:4-9 Ephesians 1:15-16
Philippians 1:3-6 Colossians 1:3-8
1 Thessalonians 1:2-3
1 Thessalonians 2:13
2 Thessalonians 1:3-4 1 Timothy 1:12-17
2 Timothy 1:3 Philemon 4-7

The material that follows is taken from The Worship

Sourcebook and reprinted with permission © 2004, CRC
Publications, permission granted December 2015.

Holy God, our praise can never match

the wondrous measure of your mercy.
Our lips can never express
the depth of gratitude that our hearts feel.
In your providence we have been kept,
of your bounty we have received,
and under the shadow of your wings
our souls have learned to rejoice.
You have led us through each decision of our lives.

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Your goodness and mercy
have followed us all our days.
By green pastures we have been led.
In the dark valley we have not walked alone.
Our comfort has been in your rod and staff.
We thank you that we are made to be dependent,
that none of us can live without you.
But most of all we thank you that you are dependable,
naming us one by one,
knowing each of our needs,
and supplying all that we require and more,
out of your eternal mercy.
Hear us, O God, as our hearts,
at their best and at their humblest,
give you the glory that belongs to your name.
In you we find our steadfast and unfrightened hope
through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

God of all good gifts,

we come before you today with praise in our hearts
and thanksgiving on our lips.
We thank you for the creation
and the wonders of this world, especially . . .
our nation . . .
the community . . .
our work . . .
opportunities to learn . . .
this church . . .
the riches of our lives . . .
and the greatest gift of all, given through your Son,
our Savior and Redeemer.

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Loving God, you take care of all our needs
and love us more than we can imagine.
You have given us everything,
and we always need you.
Thank you for never leaving us.
Thank you for guiding us as we worship you
and for speaking to us through Jesus, our Lord. Amen.
Give thanks to the Lord who is good.
God’s love is everlasting.
Come, let us praise God joyfully.
Let us come to God with thanksgiving.
For the good world:
for things great and small, beautiful and awesome,
for seen and unseen splendors, thank you, God.
For human life:
for talking and moving and thinking together,
for common hopes and hardships shared from birth
until our dying, thank you, God.
For work to do and strength to work:
for the comradeship of labor,
for exchanges of good humor and encouragement,
thank you, God.
For marriage:
for the mystery and joy of flesh made one,
for mutual forgiveness and burdens shared,
for secrets kept in love, thank you, God.
For family:
for living together and eating together,
for family amusements and family pleasures,
thank you, God.
For children:
for their energy and curiosity,
for their brave play and startling frankness,
for their sudden sympathies, thank you, God.

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For the young:
for their high hopes,
for their irreverence toward worn-out values,
for their search for freedom,
for their solemn vows, thank you, God.
For growing up and growing old:
for wisdom deepened by experience,
for rest in leisure,
for time made precious by its passing, thank you, God.
For your help in times of doubt and sorrow:
for healing our diseases,
for preserving us in temptation and danger,
thank you, God.
For the church into which we have been called:
for the good news we receive
by Word and sacrament,
for our life together in the Lord,
we praise you, God.
For your Holy Spirit,
who guides our steps
and brings us gifts of faith and love,
who prays in us and prompts our grateful worship,
we praise you, God.
For your Son Jesus Christ,
who lived and died
and lives again for our salvation:
for our hope in him, for the joy of serving him,
we thank and praise you, eternal God,
for all your goodness to us.
Give thanks to the Lord, who is good.
God’s love is everlasting. Amen.

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The material that follows is taken from The Valley of Vision:
A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions, ed. Arthur
G. Bennett and reprinted with permission © 2003, Banner
of Truth, permission granted December 2015.

O my God, fairest, greatest and first of all objects,

my heart admires, adores, loves you,
for my little vessel is as full as it can be,
and I would pour out all that fullness before you
in ceaseless flow.
When I think upon and converse with you
ten thousand delightful thoughts spring up,
ten thousand sources of pleasure are unsealed,
ten thousand refreshing joys spread over my heart,
crowding into every moment of happiness.
I bless you for the soul you have created,
for adorning it, sanctifying it,
though it is fixed in barren soil;
for the body you have given me,
for preserving its strength and vigour,
for providing senses to enjoy delights,
for the ease and freedom of my limbs,
for hands, eyes, ears, that do your bidding;
for your royal bounty providing my daily support,
for a full table and overflowing cup,
for appetite, taste, sweetness,
for social joys of relatives and friends,
for ability to serve others,
for a heart that feels sorrows and necessities,
for a mind to care for my fellow-men,
for opportunities of spreading happiness around,
for loved ones in the joys of heaven,
for my own expectation of seeing you clearly.
I love you above the powers of language to express,
for what you are to your creatures.
Increase my love, O my God, through time & eternity.
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O giving God,
my heart is drawn out in thankfulness to you,
for your amazing grace and condescension to me
in influences and assistances of your Spirit,
for special help in prayer,
for the sweetness of Christian service,
for the thoughts of arriving in heaven,
for always sending me needful supplies,
for raising me to new life when I am like one dead.
I want not the favour of man to lean upon
for your favour is infinitely better.
You are eternal wisdom in dispensations toward me;
and it matters not when, nor where,
nor how I serve you,
nor what trials I am exercised with,
if I might but be prepared for your work and will.
No poor creature stands in need of divine grace
more than I do,
and yet none abuses it more than I have done,
and still do. How heartless and dull I am!
Humble me in the dust for not loving you more.
Every time I exercise any grace renewedly,
I am renewedly indebted to you, the God of all grace,
for special assistance.
I cannot boast when I think
how dependent I am upon you
for the being and every act of grace;
I never can do anything else but depart from you,
and if I ever get to heaven it will be because you will it,
and for no reason beside.
I love, as a feeble, afflicted, despised creature,
to cast myself on your infinite grace and goodness,
hoping for no happiness but from you;

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Give me special grace to fit me for special services,
and keep me calm and resigned at all times,
humble, solemn, mortified,
and conformed to your will.

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4. SUPPLICATION
Scripture Passages for Meditation and Prayer:
Luke 6:12-16 Luke 11:1-13
John 16:12-15 Acts 1:12-14
Acts 4:23-31 Acts 13:1-4
Acts 16:6-10 Acts 16:25-34
Ephesians 1:15-19a Ephesians 3:14-19
Ephesians 6:18-20 Philippians 1:9-11
Philippians 4:6-7 Colossians 1:9-12
Colossians 4:2-4
1 Thessalonians 1:11-12
1 Thessalonians 3:1-2 1 Timothy 2:1-4
Philemon 6 James 5:13-16

The material that follows is taken from The Worship

Sourcebook and reprinted with permission © 2004, CRC
Publications, permission granted December 2015.

As Christians,
we believe that prayer is the most important part
of the thankfulness God requires of us.
We also believe
that God gives his grace and Holy Spirit
only to those who pray continually and groan inwardly,
asking God for these gifts
and thanking him for them.
—from Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 116

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Petitions
• For which country (or part of the world) shall
we pray?
• For which ministry shall we pray?
• For which other congregations shall we pray?
• For which aspects of congregational life shall
we pray?
• For which concerns in our town or city shall
we pray?
• For which personal concerns shall we pray?
• For which voiceless and powerless persons
shall we pray?
• For which spiritual gifts shall we pray?
Lord Jesus, you are our living head.
Teach us to be your body here on earth—
your hands, your feet, your eyes,
and your compassionate heart.
Lord, send the impulses of your love
into the sinews of this church.
May your will and thoughts direct us.
Let your hands, through our hands,
supply food for our neighbors’ hunger.
Let them hear your voice
as we visit and talk with them.
Let children come to us and sit in our laps,
as they sat in yours.
Without you as our head, Lord, we are lifeless.
We wait for your power, your Word, your instruction.
Fill us with your life and love, Jesus. Amen.
—based on 1 Corinthians 12:12-31

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Lord, we pray for the renewal of the church,
beginning with ourselves.
Reshape us, good Lord,
until in generosity, in faith,
and in expectation that the best is yet to come,
we are truly Christlike.
Make us passionate followers of Jesus
rather than passive supporters.
Make our churches communities
of radical discipline and signposts to heaven;
then, in us, through us, and—if need be—despite us,
let your kingdom come. Amen.

This example includes phrases from the Heidelberg

Catechism as extrapolations on each petition of the
Lord’s Prayer.

Hallowed be your name.

Help us to really know you,
to bless, worship, and praise you
for all your works
and for all that shines forth from them:
your almighty power, wisdom, kindness,
justice, mercy, and truth.
Help us to direct all our living—
what we think, say, and do—
so that your name will never be blasphemed
because of us
but always honored and praised.

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Your kingdom come.
Rule us by your Word and Spirit in such a way
that more and more we submit to you.
Keep your church strong, and add to it.
Destroy the devil’s work;
destroy every force that revolts against you
and every conspiracy against your Word.
Do this until your kingdom is so complete and perfect
that in it you are all in all.

Your will be done on earth as in heaven.

Help us and all people to reject our own wills
and to obey your will without any back talk.
Your will alone is good.
Help us one and all
to carry out the work we are called to,
as willingly and faithfully as the angels in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Do take care of all our physical needs
so that we come to know
that you are the only source of everything good,
and that neither our work and worry nor your gifts
can do us any good without your blessing.
And so help us to give up our trust in creatures
and to put trust in you alone.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Because of Christ’s blood, do not hold against us,
poor sinners that we are,
any of the sins we do
or the evil that constantly clings to us.
Forgive us, just as we are fully determined,
as evidence of your grace in us,
to forgive our neighbors.
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And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
By ourselves we are too weak to hold our own
even for a moment.
And our sworn enemies—
the devil, the world, and our own flesh—
never stop attacking us.
And so, Lord, uphold us and make us strong
with the strength of your Holy Spirit,
so that we may not go down to defeat
in this spiritual struggle,
but may firmly resist our enemies
until we finally win the complete victory.

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The material that follows is taken from The Valley of Vision:
A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions, ed. Arthur
G. Bennett and reprinted with permission © 2003, Banner
of Truth, permission granted December 2015.

Sovereign God, your cause,

not my own, engages my heart,
and I appeal to you with greatest freedom
to set up your kingdom
in every place where Satan reigns;
glorify yourself and I shall rejoice,
for to bring honour to your name is my sole desire.
I adore you that you are God,
and long that others should know it, feel it, rejoice in it.
O that all men might love and praise you,
that you might have all glory from the intelligent world!
Let sinners be brought to you for your dear name!
To the eye of reason everything
respecting the conversion of others
is as dark as midnight,
but you can accomplish great things;
the cause is yours
and it is to your glory that men should be saved.
Lord, use me as you will, do with me what you will,
but, O, promote your cause,
let your kingdom come,
let your blessed interest be advanced in this world!
O bring in great numbers to Jesus!
Let me see that glorious day,
and allow me to grasp for multitudes of souls;
let me be willing to die to that end;
and while I live let me labour for you…
spending time profitably in this work,
both in health and in weakness.
It is your cause and kingdom I long for, not my own.
O, answer my request!
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O God. . . you have given me a fixed disposition
to go forth and spend my life for you.
If it is your will let me proceed in it;
if not, then revoke my intentions.
All I want in life is such circumstances
as may best enable me to serve you in the world;
To this end I leave all my concerns in your hand,
but let me not be discouraged,
for this hinders my spiritual fervency;
Enable me to undertake some task for you,
for this refreshes and animates my soul,
so that I can endure all hardships and labours,
and willingly suffer for your name.
But, O what a death it is to strive and labour,
to always be in a hurry and yet do nothing!
Alas, time flies and I am of little use.
O that I could be a flame of fire in your service,
always burning out in one continual blaze.
Fit me for singular usefulness in this world.
Fit me to exult in distresses of every kind
if they promote the advancement of your kingdom.
Fit me to forsake all hopes of the world’s friendship,
and give me a deeper sense of my sinfulness.
Fit me to accept as just desert from you
any trial that may befall me.
Fit me to be totally resigned
to the denial of the pleasures I desire,
and to be content to spend my time with you.
Fit me to pray with a sense
of the joy of divine communion,
to find all times happy seasons to my soul, to see
my own nothingness,
and wonder that I am allowed to serve you.
Fit me to enter the blessed world where no unclean
thing is, and to know you with me always.
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