There are such depths for the hungry heart to enter into and enjoy with our Lord Jesus. He never ceases to amaze me; there is always more – so very much more!

To prepare ourselves for going deeper, these heart-searching prayers are an excellent starting point. Since I am housebound, and can hardly walk now, I am unable to go to church. I pray this prayer every morning, then I receive Holy Communion on my own. Jesus makes it a very precious, special time for me to enjoy with Him:

“My Precious Father, my Beloved Jesus and my Dear Comforter, I enter Your Court with a thankful heart for You have preserved me and given me all I need to serve You. Spirit of God, teach me to worship You continuously in spirit and in truth, and to see, hear and understand You clearly in every way You speak to me. Father, I forgive and bless from my heart, those who have hurt me. I pray for restoration, healing and conversion for them.”

“Holy Spirit, my Comforter, please reveal to me if I have hurt You, or opened doors to demonic oppression, or planted seeds of bitterness. Have I forgiven everyone? Have I judged, compared or secretly criticised, falsely accused, gossiped or cast a slur? Did I exaggerate, colour the truth, or lie? Did I spend money meant for other things or take something that belonged to another? Did I covet, lust, or entertain sinful thoughts? Was I disrespectful to anyone, to those in authority? Was I arrogant, proud or jealous?

“Have I failed to believe and act on Your promises, or been lazy, wasting time, disobeying, complaining and ungrateful? Have I taken Your love and forgiveness for granted? Lord, I repent, rend my heart and long to return and please You. You are gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. I renounce these sins as well as pride, fear, doubt, unbelief, complacency, apathy, bitterness, resentment, and believing lies against Your character. Please forgive me and help me break this cycle of sin, and deliver me from evil.

“Jesus, please pull these up by the roots and remove the doors I have opened to the enemy. Grant me the grace to sin no more, and avoid every occasion of sin. Please heal anyone I have injured and keep me from being the cause of another man’s sin, but rather make me a blessing each day, leading them to You. I lay my life, and my will, in Your hands. Please lead me in purity as I receive Your gift to me in Holy Communion. In my heart, I kneel before You to receive with gratitude the Cross and Grace You have chosen for me today. Amen.”

– Written by Clare du Bois, 2017

Litany of Humility

O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, hear me:

from the desire of being esteemed, from the desire of being loved, from the desire of being extolled, from the desire of being honoured, from the desire of being praised, from the desire of being preferred to others, from the desire of being consulted,from the desire of being approved,

. . . deliver me, Jesus!

O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, hear me:

from the fear of being humiliated, from the fear of being despised, from the fear of suffering rebukes, from the fear of being calumniated, from the fear of being forgotten, from the fear of being ridiculed, from the fear of being wronged, from the fear of being suspected,

. . . deliver me, Jesus!

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire:

that others may be loved more than I, that others may be esteemed more than I, that in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease, that others may be chosen, and I set aside, that others may be praised, and I unnoticed, that others may be preferred to me in everything, that others may become holier than I provided that I become as holy as I should . . .

. . . Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

– Written by Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930)

To me, it is a comfort to know that Jesus looks at our longing to be like Him more than He looks at our track record. He is altogether lovely.

Prayer of Sr Josefa Menendez

“Jesus, Your intercessors need Your help today! We ask You for help… but we need a miracle. We ask You for strength… but we need a miracle. We seek endurance… but we need a miracle. We hope and pray for graces… but we need a miracle. We ask for healings… but we need a miracle. We long for cures… but we need a miracle. We pray for restoration… but we need a miracle.”

Spirit of Burning, Come!

“On Your altar, precious Lord, I lay down all there is of me. Try me, O God, and know my heart. I gladly yield to the searchlight of Your Spirit. I surrender, Lord. At last I give in. Blessed Spirit of God, have Your way. I lay down my life a living sacrifice for You, Lord. How can I do less when You laid down Your life for me? Satisfy this yearning of my soul, this hunger which You have created.

“My God, all-consuming Fire, Lord God of Elijah who answers by fire, come fall upon the altar and consume all my darkness. Let the fire fall! Spirit of Burning, come! Purge and purify my soul. Penetrate the deepest recesses of my heart, dividing between soul and spirit. Sift me and separate all that is of self from that which is truly You, Lord. Shake me and shake me again until only that which cannot be shaken may remain. It is Your goodness, Lord, that has brought me to repentance, that has given me these tears.

“How I love Your deep dealings with me, for I can trust You whatever You may do. As I seek You with fasting, on my face before You, I yearn to be like You, Lord Jesus. I weep, I mourn over the sin which still so easily besets me; it has long grieved You, and now it grieves me too. So great is the intensity of my desire to be like You, Lord Jesus, that it hurts. Lord, hear the cry of my heart as I call out to You from the very depths of my being. I ask You for grace to yield to the mighty working in me of Your Spirit.

“Dear Lord Jesus, You baptise with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Baptise me now into the fire of Your Spirit, that He may burn all selfishness out of me. Conform everything in me to Your image, Lord. Set my heart free from self; burn up every trace of sin. Refining Fire, go through and through my heart, purging out the dross until only the purest gold remains. Then shall I be able to offer unto You, Lord, an offering in righteousness with clean hands and a pure heart. Make holy and set me apart – a vessel unto honour, sanctified and meet for the Master’s use.

“O sacred Fire of God, kindle in me a flame which burns with Your love for the lost. Touch my lips, Lord, with a coal from off Your altar. Cause me to speak only the words which You give, for they are Spirit and they are life. Break my self-centredness; melt the hardness of my heart. Anoint my eyes that Your love may shine through. I yield to You, dear Spirit of God. Mould me into someone useful in Your service. Set my heart afire with Your love. Come with that precious unction from above, anointing my life to be a sweet perfume for You, Lord. Set me apart for Your glory, utterly yielded, consecrated unto death. Baptise me with Heavenly energy. Nail to Your cross my will – forever. Empower, embolden me for Your calling on my life. Without You I have nothing and I am nothing. Cause me to listen; give grace to obey. Dear Spirit of Burning, Come!”

[A heart-cry that I wrote in 1989]

I was raised Methodist, and am now Pentecostal. For me as I was growing up, the highlight of our Church year was the Annual Methodist Covenant Service in which we renewed our covenant of total surrender of our lives to God.

My Covenant With God

“I am no longer my own, but Yours. Put me to what You will, rank me with whom You will. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be employed for You, or laid aside for You, exalted for You, or brought low for You. Let me be full, let me be empty; let me have all things, let me have nothing: I freely and whole-heartily yield all things to Your pleasure and disposal. And now, glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, You are mine, and I am Yours. So be it. And the Covenant now made on Earth, let it be ratified in Heaven.”

[This is the Covenant Prayer of the Methodist Church, renewed on the first Sunday of each New Year]

John Newton: From Disgrace to Amazing Grace

John Newton was born in London in 1725. He started his career in the Royal Navy at a young age. Later he worked in the slave trade for several years and captained his own ship. God saved him from certain death: from drowning in a shipwreck. John was soundly converted and saw himself as ‘a wretch saved by grace.’ In time, John Newton was ordained into the ministry of the Church of England where he was a powerful preacher. He became a prominent supporter of abolitionism, living to see Britain’s abolition of the African slave trade in 1807.

John Newton’s epitaph:

Amazing Grace

I asked the Lord that I might grow

A heart-cry of John Newton

I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith and love and ev’ry grace
Might more of His salvation know
And seek more earnestly His face.

Twas He who taught me thus to pray
And He I trust has answered prayer!
But it has been in such a way
As almost drove me to despair.

I hoped that in some favoured hour
At once He’d answer my request
And by His love’s constraining power
Subdue my sins and give me rest.

Instead of this He made me feel
The hidden evils of the heart
And let the angry powers of hell
Assault my soul in ev’ry part.

Yea more with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe
Crossed all the fair designs I’d schemed
Blasted my plans and laid me low.

“Lord why is this?” I trembling cried,
“Wilt Thou pursue Thy worm to death?”
” ‘Tis in this way” the Lord replied,
“I answer prayer for grace and faith.

“These inward trials I employ
From self and pride to set thee free
And break thy schemes of earthly joy
That thou may’st seek Thy all in Me.”