Praying the Prayers of the Saints
by Jim Elzerman

St. Francis of Assissi in prayer

We don't use a lot of "canned" prayers in our tradition, but sometimes praying the prayers of the saints can help us to approach the throne of grace when our own words escape us. Included below are several prayers credited to prayer warriors from the past. The "thees" and "thous" have been replaced to make their prayers more contemporary, but otherwise the words of the prayers are theirs. You might want to print them off and offer them as the prayer of your heart from time to time.

All through this day, O Lord, by the power of your quickening Spirit, let me touch the lives of others for good, whether through the word I speak, the prayer I speak, or the life I live.
— Anonymous

O Lord, the house of my soul is narrow; enlarge it that you may enter in. It is ruinous, O repair it! It displeases your sight; I confess it, I know. But who shall cleanse it, or to whom shall I cry but unto you? Cleanse me from my secret faults, O Lord, and spare your servant from strange sins. — St. Augustine

Ah, Lord God, you holy Lover of my soul, when you come into my soul, all that is within me shall rejoice. You are my Glory and the exultation of my heart; you are my Hope and Refuge in the day of my trouble. Set me free from all evil passions, and heal my heart of all inordinate affections; that, being inwardly cured and thoroughly cleansed, I may be made fit to love, courageous to suffer, steady to persevere. Nothing is sweeter than Love, nothing more courageous, nothing fuller nor better in heaven and earth; because Love is born of God, and cannot rest but in God, above all created things. Let me love you more than myself, nor love myself but for you. Amen. — Thomas a Kempis

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;
and 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

Lord Jesus, I believe that you are able and willing to deliver me from all the care and unrest and bondage of my Christian life. I believe you did die to set me free, not only in the future, but now and here. I believe you are stronger than sin, and that you can keep me, even me, in my extreme of weakness, from falling in its snares or yielding obedience to its commands. And Lord, I am going to trust you to keep me. I have tried keeping myself, and have failed, and failed most grievously. I am absolutely helpless. So now I will trust you. I give myself to you. I keep back no reserves. Body, soul, and spirit, I present myself to you as a piece of clay, to be fashioned into anything your love and your wisdom shall choose. And now I am yours. I believe you do accept that which I present to you; I believe that this poor, weak, foolish heart has been taken possession of by you; and that you have even at this very moment begun to work in me to will and to do of your good pleasure. I trust you utterly, and trust you now.
— Hannah Whitall Smith

Our Father, we have listened to your word, and loved it; we have found comfort and inspiration in song and Psalter; we have enjoyed the companionship of those who, with kindred minds and hearts, have praised and worshipped you. Now help us understand that, as we leave this sacred House of God, we shall become your Church in the street. — Anonymous