Prayers

Orthodox prayers for joy

These prayers from the Psalms and from St Paul ask God for joy, whether yours has gone or you long to grow in it.

Picture: Charles Edward Perugini, Ephemeral Joy, undated

4 prayers

A prayer for joy

Satisfy us in the morning (Psalm 90)

Teach us to number our days,so that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Turn back, O Lord! How long?Have pity on Your servants.

Satisfy us in the morning with Your steadfast love,so that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

Make us glad for as many days as You have afflicted us,for as many years as we have seen trouble.

Let Your servants see Your work,and their children Your glory.

Let the favour of the Lord our God be upon us.Establish the work of our hands for us;yes, establish the work of our hands.

Traditional wording, 1906

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

Turn Thee again, O Lord, at the last, and be gracious unto Thy servants.

O satisfy us with Thy mercy, and that soon:so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.

Comfort us again now after the time that Thou hast plagued us;and for the years wherein we have suffered adversity.

Show Thy servants Thy work, and their children Thy glory.

And the glorious Majesty of the Lord our God be upon us:prosper Thou the work of our hands upon us;O prosper Thou our handy-work.

Psalm 90 is headed “A Prayer of Moses”. It asks God outright for joy, to make us glad for as many days as we have seen trouble. The Orthodox Church reads it at the First Hour, one of its short daily services.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Hebrew, with Hapgood’s 1906 service book beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: Isabel F. Hapgood, Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic Church, 1906.

Where it comes from, and the original

When you have lost your joy

Have mercy on me, O God (Psalm 51)

Have mercy on me, O God, in Your great mercy;in the greatness of Your compassion, blot out my offence.Wash me thoroughly from my wrongdoing,and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my wrongdoing,and my sin is always before me.Against You alone have I sinnedand done what is evil in Your sight,so that You are proved right in what You sayand win Your case when You are judged.

Indeed, I was conceived in wrongdoing,and my mother carried me in sins.Indeed, You have loved truth;You have shown me the hidden and secret things of Your wisdom.

You will sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be clean;You will wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.You will let me hear joy and gladness;the bones that were brought low will rejoice.

Turn Your face away from my sins,and blot out all my wrongdoings.Create in me a clean heart, O God,and renew a right spirit deep within me.

Do not cast me away from Your presence,and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,and hold me firm with Your guiding Spirit.

I will teach wrongdoers Your ways,and the godless will turn back to You.Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,the God of my salvation,and my tongue will rejoice in Your righteousness.O Lord, You will open my lips,and my mouth will declare Your praise.

For if You had wanted sacrifice, I would have given it;You take no pleasure in whole burnt offerings.A broken spirit is a sacrifice to God;God will not despise a broken and humbled heart.

In Your good pleasure, O Lord, do good to Zion,and let the walls of Jerusalem be built.Then You will delight in a sacrifice of righteousness,in offerings and whole burnt offerings;then they will offer young bulls on Your altar.

Traditional wording, 2011

Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy;and according to the multitude of Thy compassions blot out my transgression.Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know mine iniquity, and my sin is ever before me.Against Thee only have I sinned and done this evil before Thee,that Thou mightest be justified in Thy words, and prevail when Thou art judged.

For behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and in sins did my mother bear me.For behold, Thou hast loved truth;the hidden and secret things of Thy wisdom hast Thou made manifest unto me.

Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be made clean;Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.Thou shalt make me to hear joy and gladness;the bones that be humbled, they shall rejoice.

Turn Thy face away from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from Thy presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation, and with Thy governing Spirit establish me.

I shall teach transgressors Thy ways, and the ungodly shall turn back unto Thee.Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, Thou God of my salvation;my tongue shall rejoice in Thy righteousness.O Lord, Thou shalt open my lips, and my mouth shall declare Thy praise.

For if Thou hadst desired sacrifice, I had given it;with whole-burnt offerings Thou shalt not be pleased.A sacrifice unto God is a broken spirit;a heart that is broken and humbled God will not despise.

Do good, O Lord, in Thy good pleasure unto Sion, and let the walls of Jerusalem be builded.Then shalt Thou be pleased with sacrifice of righteousness, with oblation and whole-burnt offerings.Then shall they offer bullocks upon Thine altar.

Show the whole prayer

David prayed this psalm after his sin with Bathsheba. Halfway through, he asks God, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,” and anyone whose joy in God has faded can pray it with him.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Greek the Orthodox Church prays, with the Jordanville Prayer Book beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, Prayer Book, 2011.

Where it comes from, and the Greek

For joy and peace together

May the God of hope fill you

May the God of hope fill youwith all joy and peace as you believe,so that you overflow with hopeby the power of the Holy Spirit.

Traditional wording, 1611

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,that ye may abound in hope,through the power of the Holy Ghost.

In a single verse, St Paul asks the God of hope to fill the Christians in Rome with all joy and peace. You can pray it as a blessing over someone you love.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Greek of Romans 15:13, with the King James wording beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: The King James translators, The King James Version, 1611.

Where it comes from, and the Greek

Where joy is found

Fullness of joy (Psalm 16)

Lord, You are my portion and my cup;You hold my lot.The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;yes, my inheritance delights me.

I will bless the Lord, Who counsels me;even at night my heart instructs me.I have set the Lord always before me;because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

So my heart is glad and my whole being rejoices;my body too will rest secure.For You will not abandon my soul to the grave,nor let Your Holy One see decay.

You make known to me the path of life;in Your presence is fullness of joy,at Your right hand are pleasures for ever.

Traditional wording, 1611

The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: Thou maintainest my lot.The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.

I will bless the LORD, Who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.I have set the LORD always before me: because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.For Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption.

Thou wilt shew me the path of life:in Thy presence is fulness of joy;at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

David’s song of trust ends with the place where joy is found: “in Your presence is fullness of joy.”

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Hebrew (verses 5 to 11), with the King James Version beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: The King James translators, The King James Version, 1611.

Where it comes from, and the original

Scripture for this

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

Philippians 4:4 Paul wrote this letter in chains, yet he told the church to rejoice in the Lord always, and then repeated it.

Then Nehemiah told them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send out portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

Nehemiah 8:10 The people wept as God’s law was read to them. They were told not to grieve, because the joy of the Lord was their strength.

¹⁷Though the fig tree does not bud and no fruit is on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the sheep are cut off from the fold and no cattle are in the stalls, ¹⁸yet I will exult in the LORD; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!

Habakkuk 3:17-18 Habakkuk pictured the fig tree bare and the stalls empty, and even then he would rejoice in God his Saviour.

I have told you these things so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

John 15:11 At the Last Supper, Jesus taught His disciples these things so that His joy would be in them and their joy complete.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness …

Galatians 5:22 Paul names joy among the fruit of the Spirit, the things the Holy Spirit grows in a Christian’s life.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.

A psalm for this

The LORD has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Psalm 126:3

When God brought His people home from captivity, their mouths were filled with laughter. St Athanasius of Alexandria gave this psalm to anyone who wants to thank God once a captivity has ended.

Psalm 126 Read the whole psalm, with St Athanasius’s advice on when to pray it.

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