SUGGESTED PRAYERS

O God, you desire truth in the inmost heart; forgive me my sins against truth – the untruth within me, the half-lies, the evasions, the exaggerations, the lying silences, the self-deceits, the masks I wear before the world. Let me stand naked before you, and see myself as I really am. Then, grant me truth in the inward parts and keep me in truth always.

George Appleton (1902 – 93)

O Christ,
tirelessly you seek out those who are looking for you
and who think that you are far away;
teach us, at every moment,
to place our spirits in your hands.
While we are still looking for you,
already you have found us.
However poor our prayer,
you hear us far more than we can imagine or believe.

Brother Roger of Taizé

Lord, teach me to seek you,
and reveal yourself to me as I look for you.
For I cannot seek you unless first you teach me,
nor find you unless first you reveal yourself to me.

St Ambrose (340 – 397)

Come Holy Spirit,
enter our silences.
Come Holy Spirit,
into the depths of our longing.
Come Holy Spirit,
our friend and our lover.
Come Holy Spirit,
unmask our pretending.
Come Holy Spirit,
expose our lives.
Come Holy Spirit,
sustain our weakness.
Come Holy Spirit,
redeem our creation.
Enter our trusting,
enter our fearing,
enter our letting go,
enter our holding back.
Flood our barren spaces,
make fertile our deserts within.
Break us and heal us,
liberator of our desires.
Come Holy Spirit,
embrace and free us.

Neill Thew, Oxford, 1990

O Holy Spirit, when you dwell in someone’s heart,
you live in what is infinitely lower.
Spirit of Holiness,
you live in the midst of impurity and corruption;
Spirit of Wisdom,
you live in the midst of folly;
Spirit of Truth,
you live in one who is deluded in many things.
Oh, continue to dwell there,
you who do not seek a desirable dwelling-place,
that one day you may finally be pleased
by the dwelling which you yourself have prepared in my heart,
foolish, deceiving and impure though it is.

Søren Kierkegaard (1813 – 1855)

Breathe in me, Holy Spirit,
that I may think what is holy.
Move me, Holy Spirit,
that I may do what is holy.
Attract me, Holy Spirit,
that I may love what is holy.
Strengthen me, Holy Spirit,
that I may guard what is holy.
Guard me, Holy Spirit,
that I may keep what is holy.

St Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430)

Lord, teach me the silence of love, the silence of wisdom, the silence of humility, the silence of faith, the silence that speaks without words.
O Saviour, teach me to silence my heart that I may listen to the gentle movement of the Holy Spirit within me, and sense the depths which are God, today and always.

Frankfurt, sixteenth century

You, Lord, are in this place,
Your presence fills it.
Your presence is peace.
You, Lord, are in my heart,
Your presence fills it.
Your presence is peace.
You, Lord, are in my life,
Your presence fills it.
Your presence is peace.

David Adam

If we have worshipped you as a relic from the past, a theological concept, a religious novelty, but not as a living God:
Lord forgive us.
If we have confused your will with our understanding of it, if we have preferred divergence to unity:
Lord forgive us.
If we have heard stories of struggle, with no intention of sharing the burden or pain:
Lord forgive us.
If we have identified the misuse of power, but failed to prophesy against it, and refused to empower the weak:
Lord forgive us.
If we have sung songs in praise of your creation, while defiling the goodness of the earth:
Lord forgive us.

The Lord says: I will bring my people back to me.
I will love them with all my heart. No longer am I angry with them. I will be to the people like rain in a dry land.
This is the promise of God.
Amen. Thanks be to God.

Worship Resources, World Conference on Mission and Evangelism

We need your healing, merciful God;
give us true repentance.
Some sins are plain to us;
some escape us,
some we cannot face.
Forgive us;
set us free to hear your word to us;
set us free to serve you.

A New Zealand Prayer Book