Prayer For Grace And Peace
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen
Teach me your way, O LORD,
that I may walk in your truth;
unite my heart to fear your name.
I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and I will glorify your name forever.
For great is your steadfast love toward me;
you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
This whole psalm is a prayer of David in a time of trouble. In verse 14 he says, O God, insolent men have risen up against me; a band of ruthless men seeks my life, and they do not set you before them. The entire psalm is David's cry for help in the assurance of God's steadfast love and faithfulness (v. 15). However, verses 10-13 can be used for prayer no matter our circumstances.
Verse 10 leads us to begin by extolling the greatness of God and His wondrous works: For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God. To begin prayer with adoration makes perfect sense. He alone is God. He is worthy to receive glory and honor and power, for [He] created all things, and by [His] will they existed and were created. (Revelation 4:11) Everything begins with God, who has no beginning and no end. It is good to begin prayer by meditating on the wonder of who He is and all that He has done. This is what Christ teaches us to do as well (Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name).
As we considered in our sermon this Sunday (you can listen to it here), when we see the glory of who God is and recognize that He is all-knowing, all-powerful, and has perfect wisdom, we will naturally desire to know His ways. Therefore, we next pray, Teach me your way, O LORD We ask that He would show us more and more of His truth, that He would show us more and more of what He has created us to be. We pray with the psalmist, Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law (Psalm 119:18).
We pray that this would affect our lives: that I may walk in your truth. Here we should spend some time confessing our sins, the ways we have failed to walk in God's truth. Then we pray that God would strengthen us to repent, to turn away from our sinful patterns and tendencies to walk in consistent obedienceknowing His way and walking in His truth.
I love this next line: unite my heart to fear your name. Isn't our greatest problem that our hearts are divided? Even as those redeemed in Christ, made new in him, we still struggle to love the LORD our God with all our heart, soul, and might, don't we? We need our hearts to be united in fearing the LORD and loving Him. We are praying that God would crush our idols, help us to hate our sin, and give ourselves to Him more fully.
Next comes thanksgiving and praise. I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever. This is, it seems to me, an aspirational prayer. As You unite my heart, I will give thanks with all of it. We have so much to give thanks for, don't we? Let us take time to count our blessings and give thanks for them to God. Of course, giving thanks leads to praising God again, glorifying His name.
This prayer ends by remembering our greatest blessing, the thing for which we are most thankful. For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. God has set His love upon us in His grace. It is a love that never fails. It is a love that has caused Him to send His Son to die that we might be delivered from Sheol, from the place of the dead. Here we remember that we were dead in our trespasses and sins, and He has made us alive together with Christ (Ephesians 2:1, 4). Here we remember that He has transferred us out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His beloved Son (Colossians 1:13). Here we take time to consider and meditate upon the blessings of the gospel that are ours in Jesus Christ. Of course, this will probably send us right back to adoration!
I think these verses are worthy of committing to memory. You can run through them in your mind in just a moment in between tasks, or slowly walk through them in a time of quiet or while driving or exercising. They will help protect against a wandering mind or distractions in prayer. They also help us get away from self-centered prayer and move more toward God-centered prayer.
Gracious, Merciful, Omnipotent Father, I praise Your Holy name! I thank you for that amazing grace that was sacrificed for me upon that old rugged cross to save lowly sinners such as I. Thank you for your glorious blessings and the many more that are on their way.
You are beautiful, magnificent, powerful, holy, mighty, merciful, gracious, glorious and worthy of all praise.
Lord, how I long to break free from negative thinking and embrace peace and joy and optimism. I invite You to begin transforming my thought patterns and help me recognize, reject and replace thoughts that are not pleasing to You.
In Jesus' Name, Amen.
God, teach us what it means to have faith in silence. When we face trials that are beyond our understanding, help us to find peace. Help me be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer. You set all things in accordance to your time. Remind us to wait patiently, and find peace in your plan.
May today there be peace within.
May you trust your highest power that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance.
It is there for each and every one of you.
Amen.
Father of love, hear my prayer.
Help me to know Your Will
and to do it with courage and faith.
Accept my offering of myself,
all my thoughts, words, deeds, and sufferings.
May my life be spent giving You glory.
Give me the strength to follow Your call,
so that Your Truth may live in my heart
and bring peace to me and to those I meet,
for I believe in Your Love.
Heavenly Father, I come to You once again to draw on Your sufficient grace which You have promised to all Your children, and I pray that You would give me Your perfect peace, to guard my heart in these very difficult days.
Throughout my life, I have come to You in time of hardship and You have never let me down. Thank You, that the length and breadth and height and depth of Your grace is beyond my understanding, and that Your perfect
peace is beyond my comprehension, and yet You provide both grace and peace to all whose mind is stayed on You.
I pray that I in my weakness I would know Your strength, in my sadness I would know You joy, in my pain I would know Your healing touch, and in these hard and difficult times, I pray that I would know Your amazing grace
and Your perfect peace deep within my soul. This I ask in Jesus' name,
Amen.