Prayers and Devotions to God the Father

Most of our prayers are addressed to God the Father, our Creator, the first Person of the Most Holy Trinity. This is because our prayers are offered in union with the Lord Jesus (in his dialogue with the Father) and in the power of the Holy Spirit who has been poured in our hearts, and cries in us “Abba!   Father!” (Galatians 4:6).
 
  • Prayer of Abandonment (Charles de Foucauld)
Father, I abandon myself into your hands;
Do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you; I am ready for all, I accept all.
Let only your will be done in me, and in all your creatures --
I wish no more than this, O Lord.
Into your hands I commend my soul;
I offer it to you with all the love of my heart, for I love you Lord,
and so need to give myself, to surrender myself into your hands,
without reserve, and with boundless confidence,
for you are my Father.
 
  • Prayer of Abandonment and Trust (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.
Not do I really know myself,
and that I think I am following your will
does not mean I am actually doing so.
But I believe the desire to please you does in fact please You.
And I hope I have that desire in all I am doing.
I hope I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know if I do this you will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it.
I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost
and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear,
for you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
 
  • Collect for Trinity Sunday (Common Worship)
Almighty and everlasting God,
you have given us your servants grace,
by the confession of a true faith,
to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity
and in the power of the divine majesty to worship the Unity:
keep us steadfast in this faith,
that we may evermore be defended from all adversities;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
 
  • Before Reading the Scriptures (Common Worship)
Almighty and everlasting God,
who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
help us so to hear them,
to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them
that, through patience, and the comfort of your holy word,
we may embrace and for ever hold fast the hope of everlasting life,
which you have given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
 
  • Other Collects (Common Worship)
Almighty God, you have created the heavens and the earth
and made us in your own image:
teach us to discern your hand in all your works
and your likeness in all your children;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
 
O God, whose beauty is beyond our imagining
and whose power we cannot comprehend:
show us your glory as far as we can grasp it,
and shield us from knowing more than we can bear
until we may look upon you without fear;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

  • For the Gift of the Holy Spirit (Common Worship)
Lord, you have taught us
that all our doings without love are nothing worth:
send your Holy Spirit
and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of love,
the true bond of peace and of all virtues,
without which whoever lives is counted dead before you.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
 
  • For Strength of Faith (adapted from the 1928 Prayer Book)
Heavenly Father, in your Son Jesus Christ
you have given us a true faith and a sure hope.
Strengthen this faith and hope in us all our days,
that we may live as those who believe in
the communion of saints
the forgiveness of sins
and the resurrection to eternal life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
 
  • For Forgiveness (Common Worship)
Most merciful God, we confess to you,
before the whole company of heaven and one another,
that we have sinned in thought, word and deed
and in what we have failed to do.
Forgive us our sins, heal us by your Spirit
and raise us to new life in Christ. Amen.

  • An Offering to the Father (adapted from the Chaplet of Divine Mercy)
Eternal Father,
I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity
of your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ,
in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.

     For the sake of his sorrowful Passion,
     have mercy on us and on the whole world.
 
Eternal Father,
I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity
of your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ,
in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.
 
  • For all Creation (Walter Rauschenbusch)
O God, we thank thee for this universe, our great home; for its     vastness and its riches, and for the manifoldness of the life which teems upon it and of which we are part. We praise thee for the arching sky and the blessed winds, for the driving clouds and the constellations on high. We praise thee for the salt sea and the running water, for the everlasting hills, for the trees and for the grass under our feet. We thank thee for our senses by which we can see the splendour of the morning, and hear the jubilant songs of love, and smell the breath of the springtime.
 
Grant us, we pray thee, a heart wide open to all this joy and beauty, and save our souls from being so steeped in care or so darkened by passion that we pass heedless and unseeing when even the thorn-bush by the wayside is aflame with the glory of God.

Enlarge within us the sense of fellowship with all the living things, our little brothers, to whom thou hast given this earth as their home in common with us. We remember with shame that in the past we have exercised the high dominion of man with ruthless cruelty, so that the voice of the Earth, which should have gone up to thee in song, has been a groan of travail. May we realize that they live not for us alone, but for themselves and for thee, and that they love the sweetness of life even as we, and serve thee in their place better than we in ours.

When our use of this world is over and we make room for others, may we not leave anything ravished by our greed or spoiled by our  ignorance, but may we hand on our common heritage fairer and  sweeter through our use of it, undiminished in fertility and joy, that so our bodies may return in peace to the great mother who nourished them and our spirits may round the circle of a perfect life in thee. Amen.

  • Teach my Heart this Day (St Anselm of Canterbury)
O Lord my God
teach my heart this day,
where and how to find you.
You have made me and re-made me,
and you have bestowed on me all the good things I possess,
and still I do not know you.
I have not yet done that for which I was made.
Teach me to seek you,
for I cannot seek you unless you teach me,
or find you unless you show yourself to me.
Let me seek you in my desire;
let me desire you in my seeking.
Let me find you by loving you;
let me love you when I find you. Amen.
 
  • Support us, O Lord (St John Henry Newman)
O Lord, support us all day long,
until the shadows lengthen,
and the evening comes,
and the busy world is hushed,
and the fever of life is over,
and our work is done.
Then in your mercy,
grant us a safe lodging and a holy rest,
and peace at last. Amen.
 
  • Guided by you (St Teresa of Avila)
Lord, grant that I may always allow myself to be guided by you,
always follow your plans,
and perfectly accomplish your holy will.
Grant that in all things, great and small,
today and all the days of my life,
I may do whatever you require of me.
Help me respond to the slightest prompting of your Grace,
so that I may be your trustworthy instrument for Your honour.
May your will be done in time and in eternity by me,
in me, and through me. Amen.
DONATE
Support the mission and work of All Saints' Parish Church