Prayers at Home

Lord Jesus Christ, you said to your disciples, ‘I am with you always’. Be with me today, as I offer myself to you. Hear my prayers for others and for myself, and keep me in your care.

Christ be with me, Christ within me, <span style="font-size: 1rem;">Christ behind me, Christ before me,</span>

Christ beside me, Christ to win me, <span style="font-size: 1rem;">Christ to comfort and restore me.</span>

Christ beneath me, Christ above me, <span style="font-size: 1rem;">Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,</span>

Christ in hearts of all that love me, <span style="font-size: 1rem;">Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.</span>

[from St Patrick’s Breastplate]

I am giving you worship with all my life, <span style="font-size: 1rem;">I am giving you obedience with all my power,</span>

I am giving you praise with all my strength, <span style="font-size: 1rem;">I am giving you honour with all my speech.</span>

I am giving you love with all my heart, <span style="font-size: 1rem;">I am giving you affection with all my sense,</span>

I am giving you my being with all my mind, <span style="font-size: 1rem;">I am giving you my soul, O most high and holy God.</span>

Praise to the Father, Praise to the Son, Praise to the Spirit, The Three in One.

[adapted from Alexander Carmichael, Carmina Gadelica (1900)]

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, <span style="font-size: 1rem;">have mercy on me, a sinner.    [The Jesus Prayer]</span>

O God, the protector of all who trust in you, <span style="font-size: 1rem;">without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy:  </span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">increase and multiply upon us your mercy;  </span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">that with you as our ruler and guide, </span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">we may so pass through things temporal </span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">that we lose not our hold on things eternal;  </span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">through Jesus Christ our Lord.                 [Common Worship]</span>

Be with us, Lord, in all our prayers, and direct our way toward the attainment of salvation, that among the changes and chances of this mortal life, we may always be defended by your gracious help, through Jesus Christ our Lord.   [Common Worship]

O gracious and holy Father, give us wisdom to perceive you, diligence to seek you, patience to wait for you, eyes to behold you, a heart to meditate upon you, and a life to proclaim you, through the power of the spirit of Jesus Christ our Lord.                       [St Benedict]

Before going to sleep

God our Father, by whose mercy the world turns safely into darkness and returns again to light: we place in your hands our unfinished tasks, our unsolved problems, and our unfulfilled hopes, knowing that only what you bless will prosper. To your love and protection we commit each other and all those we love, knowing that you alone are our sure defender, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

[Church of South India]