With today being the National Day of Prayer I am curating this post from Paul Sohn at Salt+Light. IT was a guest post on his blog from Jared Brock, the author of A Year of Living Prayerfully. It’s wonderfully concise but impactful and inspiring. I highly suggest it to you.
In the post, he shares seven prayers from famous leaders… and these are prayers we can pray today (or any day for that matter).
- Even Roberts – His famous prayer: “Lord bend us.”
- Ignatius of Layola – His famous prayer: “Dearest Lord, teach me to be generous; Teach me to serve thee as thou deservest; To give and not to count the cost, To fight and not to seek for rest, To labour and not to seek reward, Save that of knowing that I do thy will.”
- 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, Where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, not so much to be understood as to understand, not so much to be loved, as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in dying that we awake to eternal life.
- Saint Patrick – “Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ where I lie, Christ where I sit, Christ where I arise, Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of every one who speaks to me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Christ. May your salvation, Lord, be ever with us.”
- Keith Green – “Oh Lord, You’re beautiful. Your face is all I see. For when Your eyes are on this child. Your grace abounds to me. Oh Lord, please light the fire. That once burned bright and clean. Replace the lamp of my first love. That burns with holy fear. I want to take Your Word and shine it all around. But first help me just to live it, Lord. And when I’m doing well, help me to never seek a crown. For my reward is giving glory to You.”
- Billy Graham – “Our Father and Our God, we praise You for Your goodness to our nation, giving us blessings far beyond what we deserve. Yet we know all is not right with America. We deeply need a moral and spiritual renewal to help us meet the many problems we face. Convict us of sin. Help us to turn to You in repentance and faith. Set our feet on the path of Your righteousness and peace. We pray today for our nation’s leaders. Give them the wisdom to know what is right, and the courage to do it. You have said, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” May this be a new era for America, as we humble ourselves and acknowledge You alone as our Savior and Lord. This we pray in Your holy name, Amen.”
- Benedict of Nursia – Ora et labora. (Pray and work.)
Prayer is the building block of our faith and leadership. Photo by Chad Gramling, taken during a church worship service at
As Brock states in the post “it’s important that we continually remind ourselves that prayer is the key to action and service. Prayer is the thing that gives our efforts real power.” Each of these leaders used their prayer to connect with God, petition him and know him more. Each of them have significant narratives about their impact on the world and the lives within it. Those narratives are noted in the post and I highly encourage to – and pray that will – check it out.