Beyond Blue

6 Favorite Prayers

Monday October 22, 2007

Here are my six favorite prayers ... what are yours?

The Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him Forever in the next.
Amen.


Prayer by Thomas Merton

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this
you will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always
though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

The Memorare

Remember O Most gracious Virgin Mary,
that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection,
implored your help,
or sought your intercession
was left unaided.
Inspired by this confidence,
I fly to you, O Virgin of virgins, my mother.
To you I come;
before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
despise not my petitions,
but in your mercy, hear and answer me.
Amen.

Prayer by John Henry Newman

Dear Jesus,
Help me to spread Your fragrance everywhere I go.
Flood my soul with Your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly,
that my life may only be a radiance of Yours.
Shine through me, and be so in me
that every soul I come in contact with may feel Your presence in my soul.
Let them look up and see no longer me,
but only Jesus!
Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as you shine,
so to shine as to be a light to others;
the light, O Jesus will be all from You;
none of it will be mine;
it will be you, shining on others through me.
Let me thus praise You the way You love best,
by shining on those around me.
Let me preach You without preaching,
not by words but by my example,
by the catching force of the sympathetic influence of what I do,
the evident fullness of the love my heart bears to You.
Amen.

St. Teresa of Avila’s "Bookmark"

Let nothing disturb you.
Let nothing frighten you.
All things are passing.
God alone is changeless
He who has patience wants for nothing
He who has God has all things.
God alone suffices.

Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

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. Amen

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Comments
June
July 29, 2008 2:55 PM

Thank you so much for these Therese!
Somehow I think you have more - will there be a sequel?

Augustine
July 29, 2008 6:43 PM

Thanks for wonderful list of prayers. God bless.

Raymond
July 30, 2008 3:41 AM

Love all of the above - - BUT my favourite is:-

MORNING OFFERING.

Oh my Jesus, through the most pure heart of Mary,
I offer you all my prayers, works, joys,and sufferings of this day,
For all the intentions of Thy Divine Heart in the Holy Mass,
And for the Suffering Souls in Purgatory.
Eternal Rest grant unto them O Lord,
And let perpetual light shine upon them,
May they rest in peace.
AMEN

margie
July 30, 2008 11:04 AM

Do you have prayers for the military?
My son is going to the Middle East for the 3rd time.

If so, I would like to read them.
Thanks,
Margie

borisb
March 11, 2009 8:23 PM

Break the legs of what i want to happen. Humilate my desire. Eat me like candy. Its spring and i finally have no will. -rumi

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