Prayers for Encountering the Text
Lord, as I read the psalms let me hear you singing.
As I read your words, let me hear you speaking.
As I reflect on each page, let me see your image.
And as I seek to put your precepts into practice, let my heart be filled
with joy.
--Gregory of Nazianzus, 329-389. From the Harper-Collins Book of Prayers, p. 176.
Lord, inspire us to read your Scriptures and meditate upon them day
and night.
We beg you to give us real understanding of what we need,
that we in turn may put its precepts into practice.
Yet we know that understanding and good intentions are worthless,
unless rooted in your graceful love.
So we ask that the words of Scriptures may also be
not just signs on a page,
but channels of grace into our hearts.
--Origen c.185-c.254, HCBoP p. 281
Give me, O my Lord,
that purity of conscience
which alone can receive your inspirations.
My ears are dull,
so that I cannot hear your voice.
My eyes are dim,
so that I cannot see the signs of your presence.
You alone can quicken my hearing
and purge my sight,
and cleanse and renew my heart.
Teach me to sit at your feet
and to hear your word. Amen.
--John Henry Newman (1801-1890), taken from the Book of Common Worship: Daily Prayer p. 17.