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

In the Morning

Almighty God, you alone gave us the breath of life, and you alone can keep alive in us the holy desires you impart. We beseech you, for your compassion’s sake, to sanctify all our thoughts and endeavors, that we may neither begin an action without a pure intention nor continue it without your blessing. And grant that, having the eyes of our mind enlightened to behold things invisible and unseen, we may in heart be inspired by your wisdom, in work be upheld by your strength, and in the end be accepted as your faithful servants; through Jesus Christ our Savior.  Amen.

BCP 2019, p. 670

Provenance

Rowland Williams, 1872

Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.

A morning prayer asking God to purify our intentions before we act, and to keep alive the holy desires God plants in us through the day. It was written by the Victorian clergyman-scholar Rowland Williams, printed only after his death in 1872, and entered the Prayer Book tradition through the American revision of 1928 before reaching the ACNA 2019 book almost word for word.