Heartfelt Written Prayer

By Steven Bruns

Can praying a prayer written by someone else ever come from the heart? This is a legitimate question, especially since the Free Methodist Church had freedom in worship and avoiding formalism as some of its foundational core ideas. With the Free Methodist Liturgical Network providing excellent resources for our congregations, this question is one that needs to be answered.

The short answer to the question is both no and yes. No, no prayers — written or otherwise — will come from the heart if our hearts are not in them. It is possible to read through a prayer and not have any thought or emotion about it at all, and it is possible to create a prayer from our own words but not have it come from the heart. There are people who pray without ever truly seeking to connect with God. They just go through the motions. In those instances, whether the words were written on paper or imagined in their own minds, the prayer will not be heartfelt.

Yet written prayers can be heartfelt just as much as ones that come from our own minds if we are focused on the One to whom we are praying. The single most prayed words in all of the church throughout the last 2,000 years, across all languages and cultures, is the Lord’s Prayer — a written prayer. In addition to the Lord’s Prayer, all of the Psalms are written prayers that have helped the people of God find comfort, peace, and heartfelt cries to God for thousands of years.

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“The Holy Spirit bears witness in our own spirits and helps us in our prayers”

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A case could easily be made that all good worship music — whether psalms, hymns, or spiritual songs (Ephesians 5:19) — are prayers. When we have an experience that speaks straight to our souls, when we find ourselves ushered to the throne of God, whether in corporate worship or alone with God, we are using written prayers to speak on our behalf and give us the vocabulary we may need at that time for saying what we need to say to God. These written and sung prayers to God work in this way because oftentimes it was the Holy Spirit who prompted the writing and composition of them, and the Holy Spirit bears witness in our own spirits and helps us in our prayers.

Because of these reasons, there are certain prayers that have brought our brothers and sisters comfort or conviction, peace or promise, over the centuries. Below are a few prayers that Christians have used and continue to use:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

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;

And 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.

– “Peace Prayer,” often attributed to St. Francis of Assisi and titled “Prayer of St. Francis”

Behold, Lord, an empty vessel that needs to be filled. My Lord, fill it.

I am weak in the faith; strengthen me. I am cold in love; warm me and make me fervent, that my love might go out to my neighbor. I do not have a strong and firm faith; at times I doubt, and am unable to trust you altogether. O Lord, help me.
– Martin Luther

Holy Spirit, powerful Consoler, sacred Bond of the Father and the Son, Hope of the afflicted, descend into my heart and establish in it your loving dominion. Enkindle in my tepid soul the fire of your Love so that I may be wholly subject to you. We believe that when you dwell in us, you also prepare a dwelling for the Father and the Son. Deign, therefore, to come to me, Consoler of abandoned souls, and Protector of the needy. Help the afflicted, strengthen the weak, and support the wavering. Come and purify me. Let no evil desire take possession of me. You love the humble and resist the proud. Come to me, glory of the living, and hope of the dying. Lead me by your grace that I may always be pleasing to you. Amen.

–  St. Augustine

I am no longer my own, but thine.

Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.

Put me to doing, put me to suffering.

Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,

Exalted for thee or brought low for thee.

Let me be full, let me be empty.

Let me have all things, let me have nothing.

I freely and heartily yield all things

To thy pleasure and disposal.

And now, O glorious and blessed God,

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

Thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it.

And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.

– John Wesley

And here is the morning prayer attributed to St. Patrick of Ireland. It is said that he prayed this prayer and taught all those who were in ministry with him to pray it every day as they began the day. It was a prayer of remembrance of the presence and power of God with them, and it was a prayer of protection as they interacted with a culture that was antagonistic against them:

I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,

Through belief in the Threeness, through confession of the
Oneness of the Creator of creation.

I arise today through the strength of Christ with His baptism,

Through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial,

Through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension,

Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today through the strength of the love of Cherubim,

In obedience of Angels,

In the service of Archangels,

In hope of resurrection to meet with reward,

In prayers of Patriarchs,

In predictions of Prophets,

In preachings of Apostles,

In faiths of Confessors,

In innocence of Holy Virgins,

In deeds of righteous ones.

I arise today through the strength of heaven,

Light of sun, brilliance of moon,

Splendor of fire, speed of lightening

Swiftness of wind, depth of sea

Stability of earth, firmness of rock.

I arise today through God’s strength to pilot me,

God’s might to uphold me,

God’s wisdom to guide me,

God’s eye to look before me,

God’s ear to hear me,

God’s word to speak for me,

God’s hand to guard me,

God’s way to lie before me,

God’s shield to protect me,

God’s host to secure me:

            Against snares of devils,

            Against temptations of vices,

            Against inclinations of nature,

            Against everyone who shall wish me ill,

            Afar and anear, alone and in a crowd.

I summon today all these powers between me:

            Against every cruel and merciless power that may oppose my body and soul,

            Against incantations of false prophets,

            Against black laws of heathenry,

            Against false laws of heretics,

            Against craft of idolatry,

            Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,

            Against every knowledge that endangers one’s body and soul.

Christ, protect me today against poison,

            Against burning,

            Against drowning,

            Against wounding

So that there may come an abundance of reward.

Christ with me,

Christ before me,

Christ behind me,

Christ in me,

Christ beneath me,

Christ above me,

Christ on my right,

Christ on my left,

Christ in breadth,

Christ in length,

Christ in height,

Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,

Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,

Christ in every eye that sees me,

Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,

Through belief in the Threeness, through confession of the

Oneness of the Creator of creation.

Salvation is of the Lord!

Salvation is of the Lord!

Salvation is of Christ!

May your salvation, O Lord, be ever with me.

Amen.

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