Commontide

Preparation for Personal Prayer

Holy Spirit, breath of God and fire of love, I cannot pray without your aid: Kindle in me the fire of your love, and illumine me with your light; that with a steadfast will and holy thoughts I may approach the Father in spirit and in truth; through Jesus Christ my Lord, who reigns with you and the Father in eternal union. Amen.

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Commontide
Prayer
Prayers

Strengthen, O Lord

Confirmation — alternate form at the laying on of hands

Strengthen, O Lord, with your Holy Spirit, your servant N.; empower him for your service; and sustain him all the days of his life. Amen.

Found in the Prayer Book

  • Confirmation

Provenance

TEC BCP 1979

Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.

This short formula, spoken as the bishop lays hands on each candidate at Confirmation, entered the prayer-book tradition with the 1979 Episcopal prayer book, where it stood as the primary wording alongside the older "Defend, O Lord" that Anglican rites had carried since Cranmer. The ACNA 2019 prayer book adopted it with a slight rearrangement of words.