Help for the spiritually tongue-tied
The Lord’s Prayer as a Model
A Beginning for Prayer
Middle Parts of Prayer
- Hardship
- Loneliness
- Betrayal
- Fear of Death
- Rejection
- Neglect of God’s Holy Word
- Protection
- For the Terminally Ill
- In Severe Adversity
An Ending for Prayer
Finding a psalm to use as a prayer
The Lord’s Prayer as a Model
Some people say that the Lord’s Prayer was not meant to be recited, because in giving the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus did not say pray this, He said pray like this. However, few of those people actually follow through and model their prayers on the Lord’s Prayer. So here is a suggestion for how you might actually pray like this as Jesus instructed.
- My Father in heaven, help me keep your Name holy today in everything I do and say.
- (Discuss the spiritual aspects of the upcoming
events of the day.)
- Let your Kingdom come, and let your will be done, through me here on earth as it is through your angels in heaven.
- (List specific situations in which you need to
submit to God’s will.)
- Give me today the things I need to live, which includes nourishment for my body, sustenance for my soul, stimulation for my mind, and companionship for my spirit.
- (List your specific needs, because in doing so, you acknowledge that God is the source of all things.)
- Forgive me for the sins I have committed against you, which are…
- (List them and don’t leave anything out.).
- However, I only ask that you forgive me to the same extent that I have been willing to forgive others.
- (I have forgiven (these people) for doing (these things) to me, and I have assured them of my forgiveness by doing (these things) and saying (these words). I confess that I have not yet forgiven (these other people) for doing (these other things) to me, and I need your help.
- Please, Lord, do not allow me to come into any situation in which I am unable to prevail, and protect me from evil.
- (List your specific anxieties.)
AMEN.
A Beginning for Prayer
Lord God, Maker and King of the universe, to whom all honor, glory, praise, and worship are due; it is a right and proper thing, at all times, in all places, and in all circumstances, to give you my most hearty thanks and praise, especially for your Son Jesus Christ, who died to take away my sins and the sins of the entire world. He rose again from the dead and sits at your right hand where He rules over all things, including the things I cannot understand.
Middle Parts of Prayer
Hardship
O Lord, your Holy Word commands me to be joyful in all things, and to give thanks for trials and hardships. I understand that life is a test, that you only give a hard test to a good student, that you never trip up a slow student with an impossibly difficult test—so I rejoice that you have found me a worthy student. I thank you for refining me in the fire as one refines gold, because it means that in your sight I am as valuable as gold. Therefore, I thank you for the hardships that beset me, because I know you sent them to train and improve me. I am especially grateful for these hardships. Grant me wisdom and insight to understand the ultimate benefit you bring me through these hardships.
Loneliness
Lord, when you hung upon the cross, you experienced the most piercing form of loneliness and abandonment ever experienced by any human being. Have mercy on me, even though the loneliness that overwhelms me is only a pale shadow of the loneliness you must have felt. My friends are ever dwindling in number, and my heart aches for fellowship. I grow discouraged, because there are few to share with. Grant me fellowship with other people.
Betrayal
Lord, when the soldiers came for you in the garden, you experienced the pain of the betrayer’s metaphorical knife in the back. Have mercy on me, even though I experience only a shadow of the betrayal you felt. Help me to forgive my enemies without compromising myself. Keep me from participating in their sin by giving me the forbearance not to return their deeds in kind. Grant me the wisdom to find a way to repair or transcend the situation.
Fear of Death
Lord, of all the gods under heaven to which people pray, you, the One True God, are the only one who took upon mortal flesh, who died, and who transcended death in resurrection. You are the only one who can help me in my mortal anxiety. Comfort me, so that I may know that you who conquered death will not allow it to conquer me.
Rejection
Lord, you came to your creatures, your own handiwork, and they rejected you. They disobeyed your commandments, they distrusted your providence, they spurned your love, they misunderstood your message, they ignored your teachings, they denied you under pressure, and finally they betrayed you and set you up to die. Therefore, you understand how I am downcast. In that moment when you asked your disciples if they would leave you too, you understood what it is like to be overcome by rejection to the point of doubting even your most trusted allies. Therefore you understand why I am anxious that you will reject me, too. Reassure me Lord, that you accept me. Help me to climb a tree, as Zacchaeus did, to look over the heads of those who reject me and to seek acceptance only from you. Help me also to look down upon the people who reject me, to forgive their pettiness, and to love them as your lost little lambs.
Neglect of God’s Holy Word
Lord, forgive me for neglecting the reading and study of your holy Word. Free me from any fondly held but vain opinions and fill me afresh with the Spirit of Truth, that I might delight in your holy Word, that I might study it and reflect upon it, and see you within it.
Protection
Drive far from me all snares of the enemy; send your Holy Spirit to fill me, to guide and strengthen me, to protect me from my own weaknesses; send your holy angels to counsel and defend me; and send me into the world to do your will.
For the Terminally Ill
Lord, forgive (name) any sins that (they) may have committed. If it is your will, raise (them) up to a healthy body and a sound mind to serve the residue of (their) days in your service and to your glory. If it is not your will to heal (them), then recognize (them) as a lamb of your fold and a sheep of your flock. Send your holy angels to protect (them) from all spiritual harm, to guide and direct (them), to counsel and defend (them). Take (them) into the paradise that you have prepared for those who love you. Let (them) stand in the resurrection of the just on the Last Day and live with you in your glory forever more.
In Severe Adversity
Lord, I do not understand the things that trouble me now. Therefore I thank you for (adversity), because it has brought your will into sharp focus, it has brought me closer to you and to others, and it has taught me (lesson). I pray that you will consider that I have passed this test, and having learned it, I ask you to withdraw it. Yet if it is your will that I continue in this adversity, I ask for your grace to perservere in faith as long as this trial shall last.
To end the prayer…
I do not ask these things on my own authority, for before you I have none, but in the name of your only begotten Son Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in your glory, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, as one God, now and forever, AMEN.