”Pray as you can, not as you can’t.” — often attributed to Teresa of Ávila …
There are seasons of faith when prayer can feel… impossible. Instead of mustering up willpower, I’ve learned to lean on the words of others when my own feel out of reach. I’ve found comfort in that invitation* and I offer these borrowed prayers here in case they might hold something for you, too.
Borrowed Prayers
The Lord's Prayer (Willard's)
Dear Father always near us,
may your name be treasured and loved,
may your rule be completed in us
may your will be done here on earth
in just the way it is done in heaven.
Give us today the things we need today,
and forgive us our sins and impositions on you
as we are forgiving all who in any way offend us.
Please don’t put us through trials,
but deliver us from everything bad.
Because you are the one in charge,
and you have all the power,
and the glory too is all yours — forever — which is just the way we want it!
—Dallas Willard
The Serenity Prayer
God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change
the courage to change the things I can
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time,
enjoying one moment at a time.
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace.
Taking, as he did, the sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it.
Trusting that he will make all things right
if I surrender to His will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
and supremely happy with Him forever.
—Reinhold Niebuhr, 1892-1971
Welcome the Spirit
Come Holy Spirit, wild and free.
Do as you please.
Shine your light on me that I might see things as they are, not as I am.
Free me to act in your name with courage, creativity, and compassion.
(from Street Psalms)
Suscipe Prayer (Ignatian)
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
my memory, my understanding,
and my entire will,
All I have and call my own.
You have given all to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.
Everything is yours; do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace,
that is enough for me.
—St. Ignatius of Loyola
Welcome Prayer
Welcome, welcome, welcome.
I welcome everything that comes to me today because I know it’s for my healing.
I welcome all thoughts, feelings, emotions, persons, situations, and conditions.
I let go of my desire for power and control.
I let go of my desire for affection, esteem, approval, and pleasure.
I let go of my desire for survival and security.
I let go of my desire to change any situation, condition, person, or myself.
I open to the love and presence of God and God’s action within.
Amen.
-Fr. Keating
Find Me Lord
Oh, Eternal One,
it would be easier for me to pray
if I were clear and of a single mind and a pure heart;
if I could be done hiding from myself and from you, even in my prayers.
But, I am who I am,
mixture of motives and excuses,
blur of memories, quiver of hopes,
knot of fear, tangle of confusion,
and restless with love, for love.
I wander somewhere between gratitude and grievance,
wonder and routine, high resolve and undone dreams,
generous impulses and unpaid bills.
Come, find me, Lord.
Be with me exactly as I am.
Help me find me, Lord. Help me accept what I am,
so I can begin to be yours.
Make of me something small enough to snuggle,
young enough to question, simple enough to giggle,
old enough to forget, foolish enough to act for peace,
skeptical enough to doubt the sufficiency of anything but you,
and attentive enough to listen
as you call me out of the tomb of my timidity
into the chancy glory of my possibilities
and the power of your presence.
Amen.
-Ted Loder
Prayer for Peace
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,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
-St. Francis of Assisi
True Friend
Jesus, you are my true friend, my only friend.
You take a part in all my misfortunes;
You take them on yourself;
You know how to change them into blessings.
You listen to me with the greatest kindness
when I relate my troubles to you,
and you always have balm to pour on my wounds.
I find you at all times, I find you everywhere,
You never go away;
if I have to change my dwelling, I find you wherever I go.
You are never weary of listening to me,
You are never tired of doing me good.
I am certain of being beloved by you even as I return that love to you.
Amen.
—St. Claude La Colombiere, SJ
a blessing (home)
May joy and nothing less find you on the way.
May you be blessed, oh may you be a blessing God calls you into becoming.
And may light, Love’s own crucified risen light
Guide you and uncounted others
You and me and uncounted others out of every darkness
Some of which are absolutely beyond imagining
All the way home
This is what I believe about home:
Those most home, you can see them, you can find them,
Those most home relentlessly seek the very least home.
—Carson Brisson
A Blessing for Discernment
O Holy One,
I stand on a threshold
and seek your grace
to guide me in the direction
of my deepest desires
planted in my heart by you.
Help me to see the signs and synchronicities
which abound that let me know which is the good way.
Let me hear the insight pouring forth
from soul friends and strangers.
Let me remember the ancient ones
cheering me on from beyond the veil,
may my ancestors bless my path
and my seeking and choosing.
Sophia, bless me with wisdom
and the capacity to rest
into the mystery and unknowing,
to not rush the process,
and to trust in the slow unfolding.
Help me to dwell in the assurance
that there isn’t just one way I need to figure out,
but the call to listen
for the most life-giving option right now
in this season of my life.
Refine my vision so I can behold
your shimmering presence around me.
Expand my heart
until I see that Love is my true call,
and help me to say yes to all
that is in service to Love.
—Christine Valters Paintner
*I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a shout out to my teacher and guide over these past years, and where I was first introduced to the idea of borrowing prayers (other than reading the Psalms of course!). Check out this episode by my friend Emily P. Freeman for more.