I went for a Methodist service on Tuesday and I loved the prayers at the service so much that I had to ask for a copy! I am such a hybrid of Christian doctrines; raised Anglican, taught by nuns and brothers in a Catholic high school school and now a practicing Pentecostal. Open secret? There is the same Spirit in all the movements. Different expressions of God, different ways of relating to Him, different methods of finding Him. I am just pleased to be loved by God and taught by Him in so many different ways. 🙂

So here are some of the prayers I liked best.

1. Prayer of Adoration
Eternal Father God, Holy beyond our sense of purity, mighty beyond our sense of power, merciful beyond our sense of compassion. We adore You. We glimpse your greatness, and are amazed that You care for us, selfish, rebellious creatures. In Jesus Christ we realize the true extent of your love for us and involvement with us, and our hearts are full of gratitude. Our response to You is inadequate, yet we respond as we can: all praise and glory be given to You, now and for ever. Amen.

2. Prayer of Confession
Father, only You know how much we need forgiveness, and only You can forgive us. We humbly confess our failures to You, confident of your forgiving nature: our failure to recognize your speaking to us through your Son, your Church, your word and your world, our failure to love in the power of the risen Christ, our renunciation of good and our compromise with evil. Grant us freedom from the past, resolve in the present, and dedication in the future, that we may be better disciples of Jesus Christ your Son, for His sake. Amen.

3. Prayer of Thanksgiving & Dedication
We give thanks to You our Father; for your creative power and your constant care. We give thanks to You, our Father… for the times when we have looked back in wonder and seen your hand guiding our lives, your word directing our ways…We give thanks to You, our Father, for the gift of the Holy Spirit, who reveals to us the things of Jesus and leads us into all truth. We present ourselves to You, humbly and thankfully. Make us into disciples who bring glory to your name, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

4. Prayer for Mercy
Almighty God, spirit of purity and grace whose salvation is never far from the contrite heart, hear our confession of sin, and have mercy upon us. For all the evil of our past lives; for our many refusals of your call, for our indolence, vanity, and unfaithfulness. Have mercy upon us, and write all these your laws in our hearts, we earnestly pray you. For the sins and faults of youth which earlier led us astray from your ways and brought upon us many troubles and sorrows. For all our hardness of heart and impenitence of spirit; for our pride, self-sufficiency, and willful iniquity. For all our forgotten vows, for the better purposes which we have suffered to grow weak, for the good resolutions we have not kept; for the excuses we have fashioned to hide from ourselves our unfaithful lives:. Have mercy upon us, O God. For the sorrows that have brought no repentance, for all the wholesome teachings of life which have remained in our lives unrebuked and tolerated, and for all our omissions to deal truly with ourselves. Have mercy upon us, O God. For the words of unjust anger and bitterness which have escaped our lips; for the strife and separations which we have inflamed and aided, and for all our sinful neglect to produce, peace and good will among people. For our fretful; suffering of wrong; for the vindictive passions we have cherished; for our intolerance, injustice, and uncharitableness; for our readiness to blame and our want of thoughtfulness; patience, kindness and sympathy in our social relations. Have mercy upon us, O God. For all the goodness of life which we have received thanklessly; for the strength which we have wasted: for the gifts we have not cultivated; for the opportunities which we have neglected; for all the beauty of this fair world and the love of human hearts which have passed before us and which in our thoughtlessness and care and passion we have not appreciated. For the unworthy doubts of you which have clouded our path; for the times when we have forgotten our duties and lost our faith; for the hours when we have yielded to temptation and plucked of the fruit of the forbidden tree.For our selfish comfort amid the wrongs, oppressions, and sorrows of life; for our undue and exclusive regard to our own interest; for our lack of brotherhood and neglect of the service of humanity.

5. Prayer to Find
O Lord, we pray You, give us knowledge of You, to see You in all your works, always to feel your presence near, and to hear and know your call. May your spirit be our spirit, your words our words, your will our will; that unburdened from the grief and shame of our past faithlessness we may persevere in your strength, through success and failure, through good report and evil report; and in all time of our tribulation, in all time of our wealth. Save us and help us, we humbly beseech You, O Lord Almighty God, not in reliance on any merits of our own do we venture to lay our petitions before You, but sustained by your gracious promises and trusting in your unfathomable mercies. May we never lose the sense of your loving presence. In every trial and temptation of our life may we look to You and not be ashamed. When heavy burdens oppress us, or when we are disheartened in our tasks, and our spirit faints within us, and the gloom of failure settles upon us: help us to trust in you and never to give up our faith in all circumstances.. When doubts assail us concerning your providence, your justice and your goodness; when we question the value of this earthly life and the reality of the heavenly, and our soul wanders in darkness, groping vainly for the place of her rest.. Lift up the light of Your countenance upon us, O Lord, and solve our doubts. When through self-indulgence, or from a blind following of the multitude, or by suppression of the voice of conscience, our sense of duty grows dim, and we call good evil, evil good, the darkness light and the light darkness.. And when there is a stirring within us of a better spirit, and a healthy discontent seizes upon us and bids us rise above our weaker selves, and we strive as best as we can to raise our souls out of the dark abyss unto You, our Father, who is in heaven, then come Lord to meet us, to cheer and listen to us. O God, in the abundance of your loving kindness, answer us with your true salvation, in Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Benediction
Grant, O Lord, that the ears which have heard the voice of your songs may be closed to the voice of clamour and dispute; that the eyes which have seen your great love may also behold your blessed hope; that the tongues which have sung your praise may speak the truth; and that the feet which have walked in your courts may walk in the region of light; for the sake of Jesus Christ, and may the blessing of God Almighty, His Son and Savior, and the Holy Spirit, remain and abide with you now and for ever. Amen.