5 Reasons to Pray the Lord’s Prayer

“This, then, is how you should pray…” Concerning the praying of the Lord’s Prayer, Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes, “Daily the disciples receive this certainty anew from their communion with Jesus Christ, who is the fulfillment of all their petitions. In him God’s name is hallowed; in him God’s kingdom comes; in him God’s will is done. […]

A Prayer by G.K. Chesterton

O God of earth and altar, in mercy hear our cry; our earthly rulers falter, our people drift and die; the walls of gold entomb us, the words of scorn divide; take not Thy thunder from us, but take away our pride. From all that terror teaches, from lies of pen and tongue; from all […]

A Prayer by Augustine

Almighty God, in whom we live and move and have our being, you have made us for yourself, so that our hearts are restless till they rest in you; grant us purity of heart and strength of purpose, that no passion may hinder us from knowing your will, no weakness from doing it; but in […]

A Prayer by Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. Where there is hatred let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that I may seek not so much to […]

A Prayer By Reinhold Niebuhr

O Lord, whose kingdom is not of this world but yet whose truth is the judgment seat before which we must all be made manifest, reveal yourself to us above and beyond the confusion of counsel in which we stand. Reveal yourself as our judge so that we may not be at ease if the […]

A Prayer by Karl Barth

O Lord God, our Father through Jesus Christ thy Son in the power of the Holy Spirit! Give light to our eyes, we beseech thee, that we may see thy light, the brightly shining light of reconciliation! For man’s greatest plight is not to see the light in the broad daylight…Bless whatever efforts are made […]

A Prayer by J.N. Armstrong

J.N. Armstrong was the first president of Harding University and the son-in-law of James A. Harding. He believed that Christians were not to participate in war. He made statements like, “To hate our enemies only hurts us” and “We cannot join in the hating, the bitterness, but must keep the spirit of Christ, and try […]

A Prayer by James Weldon Johnson

O Lord, we come this morning Knee-bowed and body-bent Before thy throne of grace. O Lord – this morning – Bow our hearts beneath our knees, And our knees in some lonesome valley. We come this morning – Like empty pitchers to a full fountain, With no merits of our own. O Lord – open […]

A Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr

Grant us, our Father, your grace, that, seeing ourselves in the light of your holiness, we may be cleansed of the pride and vainglory which obscure your truth; and knowing that from you no secrets are hid, we may perceive and confront those deceits and disguises by which we deceive ourselves and our fellowmen. So […]

A Prayer by Basil the Great

Steer the ship of my life, good Lord, to your quiet harbor, where I can be safe from the storms of sin and conflict. Show me the course I should take. Renew in me the gift of discernment, so that I can always see the right direction in which I should go. And give me […]