PRAYERS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT --- PART 8

O Adonai Yeshua HaMashiach, very bright Sun of the world, ever rising, never going down: We ask You to shine upon our spirit. You have driven away the night of sin and error by your inward light; let us now walk in the light of this day without stumbling. Hear our prayer, Adonai, who lives and reigns with the Father and Ruach HaKodesh now and forever. (Psalms 92).

O my Elohim, let me walk in the way of love, which knows not how to see self in anything whatsoever. But what love must it be? It must be an ardent love, a pure love, a courageous love, a love of charity, a humble love, and a constant love. O Adonai, give this love into my soul, that I may never more live nor breathe but out of a more pure love of Thee, my all and only YAHVEH. (Psalms 116).

Adonai, help us to love You; teach us to serve You. Give us Your strength that we may overcome our corrupt nature. Grant this day that we may have power from on high to resist every temptation; to confess HaMashiach before men and women; to labour steadfastly with a single eye to Your glory; to live in the spirit of prayer, in faith, humility, self-denial, and love; and to walk before You in that narrow way that leads to eternal life. Fill us with love for others. Teach us to do good to all people, to visit and relieve the fatherless and the widows in their affliction. Adonai, for Your Name’s sake, hear us. (Psalms 138).

O sweet and loving YAHVEH, when I stay asleep too long, oblivious to all Your many blessings, then, please, wake me up and sing to me Your joyful song. It is a song without noise or notes; it is a song of love beyond words, of faith beyond the power of human telling. I can hear it in my soul when you awaken me to Your presence. (Psalms 147).

Keep me, O Adonai, while I remain on this earth, in a daily practice of serious seeking after You. Grant me an affectionate, believing walk with You, so that when You return, I will not be found hiding my talent or serving my flesh or asleep with my lamp unfilled, but waiting and longing for my Adonai, my glorious YAHVEH, for ever and ever. (Proverbs 3).

O Adonai, who is the giver of all good things, fill our hearts with gratitude for the food and drink laid before us. And as we fill our bellies, may we be sober and frugal in our eating, taking only that which is necessary to refresh ourselves for Your service. Let the pleasure we take in the bread that nourishes our earthly bodies be as nothing to the joy we take in the spiritual bread of Your truth, which nourishes the soul. (Proverbs 13).

O Adonai, who has so loved my soul, make me a lover of souls. Fill me with an unwearied, unconditional love, one that perceives keenly and endures strongly. Let such love enable others to do and be their best. Help me to be an advocate for the powerless and invisible. Take from me the spirit of nervousness and self-absorption. Being inwardly cured and thoroughly cleansed, may I am fit to love, steady to persevere. Let no sickness or accident, no task or weariness, make me ungracious to those about me, but in all things make me like Your Holy Son, Yeshua. (Proverbs 16).

YAHVEH of Truth, protector of Your people, come to the aid of all who are poor and oppressed. By the power of Your life-giving Word, lead us in the ways of peace and integrity, and give us the help we long for in Yeshua HaMashiach our Saviour. (Proverbs 29).

The breath of life, O Adonai, seems spent. My body is tense, my mind filled with anxiety, yet I have no zest, no energy. I am helpless to allay my fears; I am incapable of relaxing my limbs. Dark thoughts constantly invade my head, and I have no power to resist them. . . .Friends no longer want to visit me. You have driven away my spiritual brethren. I am now an outcast from Your church. No longer have the flowers wanted to bloom for me. No longer have the trees come into leaf for me. No longer have the birds sung at my window. My fellow Christians condemn me as an idle sinner. Adonai, raise up my soul, revives my body. (Ecclesiastes 2).

Teach us, O Adonai and enable us to live the life of saints and angels. Take us out of the apathy, the irritability, the sensitiveness, the anarchy in which our souls lie, and fill them with Your fullness. Breathe on us with Your breath, which infuses energy and kindles fervour. In asking for fervour we ask for all that we may need and all that You can give. In asking for fervour we are asking for faith, hope, and charity; we are asking for that loyal perception of duty, which follows on yearning affection; we are asking for sanctity, peace, and joy, all at once. Nothing would be a trouble to us, nothing a difficulty, had we but fervour of soul. Adonai, in asking for fervour we are asking for You, for nothing short of You, O YAHVEH. Enter our hearts, and fill them with fervour by filling them with You. (Ecclesiastes 12)