Borrowed prayers are praying the words shared/written by another person. Sometimes we just don’t know what to say. Other times reading a prayer from another person’s spirit resonates so much with my own spirit it becomes our prayer also.
I shared some of my favorite prayers on this post last year. I believe just the right words come along when we most need them and even when we don’t know we needed them. Recently several prayers from others have shimmered, vibrated, and echoed deep inside me. I write them into my journal and pray them as their beauty and meanings seep into my heart. Maybe some of these words will also guide you on your spiritual path.
“Why, O Lord, is it so hard for me to keep my heart directed toward you? Why do the many little things I want to do, and the many people I know, keep crowding my mind, even during the hours that I am totally free to be with you and you alone? Why does my mind wander off in so many directions, and why does my heart desire the things that lead me astray?... The only thing you ask of me is not to hide from you, not to run away in despair, not to act as if you were a relentless despot. Take my tired body, my confused mind, and my restless soul into your arms and give me rest, simple quiet rest.” Henri Nouwen
“I feel that perhaps it will help me to write out a definite consecration of myself to God so that I may distinctly grasp the reality and irrevocableness of it. Lord, I am yours, yours wholly, and yours forever! I am yours by the purchase of your blood, and I present myself to you now as a living sacrifice, body, soul, and spirit to be as clay in your hands.
I give you my heart, Lord, to love only what you love; to hate what you hate; to endure all things, to suffer long and be kind, to be not easily provoked; to think no evil, not to seek my own. Help me, oh my God!
I give you my intellect to be wholly devoted to your service, and perfectly under your control to think only whose thoughts that will please you, to devise only such plans as you suggest, to yield the management of all its affairs to you! I give it to you that you may fulfill the purposes of your grace by casting down in me imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” Help me, oh my God.
I give you my body to be used by you. My eyes to see only what you would have them see, my ears to hear only what you would have them hear; my feet to go only where you lead, my hands to do only what can be done in fellowship with you, my tongue to speak only words that please you. I give you any appetite to be under thy control and regulation. I give my time to you, Lord, to be all employed for you.
I leave my reputation in your hands. I give you my children, my husband, and everyone whom I love to be disposed of according to your will. I leave to you the ordering of my whole life, and with your help will follow you wherever you lead. I will give you the control of my feelings and of my prejudices.
I submit, in short, my whole being and life all that I am and have and will be to your complete control and only ask that your will may be perfectly done in me, through me and by me! Take me and keep me oh my God!”
Hannah Whitehall Smith’s Journal, May 31, 1869
A Prayer of Susanna Wesley:
“Help me, Lord, to remember that religion is not to be confined to the church, or closet, nor exercised only in prayer and meditation, but that everywhere I am in Your presence. So may my every word and action have a moral content. May all the happenings of my life prove useful and beneficial to me. May all things instruct me and afford me an opportunity of exercising some virtue and daily learning and growing toward Your likeness. Amen”
“Say a prayer to Jesus. A one-word prayer to Jesus. Here is the prayer: “Okay.” Just pray “Okay.” Forget about your feelings about your worthiness. Just pray “Okay,” and take Jesus at his word that he loves you – not who you could be or may think you should be, but who you are.” Brother Curtis Almquist
Do you use borrowed prayers? If so, please share the ones that touch your heart. Which ones that I shared today move you the most?
I loved each and every one of these prayers you've featured here, Jean. They are all so moving, it's difficult for me to choose. For simplicity's sake, I'll go with Brother Almquist's - just say 'okay' to Jesus, and know He will do the rest. Blessings!