Prayers

Orthodox prayers for trust and surrender

These prayers hand your will and your life over to God. Christ’s own prayer in Gethsemane comes first.

Picture: Sebastiano Ricci, Christ on the Mount of Olives, about 1730

3 prayers

Not my will, but Yours

Prayer in Gethsemane

Father, if You are willing,take this cup away from Me.Yet not My will, but Yours be done.

My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Meunless I drink it,Your will be done.

Traditional wording, 1611

Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me:nevertheless not My will, but Thine, be done.

O My Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me, except I drink it,Thy will be done.

Jesus prayed this on the night before He died. He asked to be spared the suffering ahead, then put the Father’s will before His own.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Greek of Luke 22:42 and Matthew 26:42, 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

Offering yourself to God

Prayer of St Philaret

Lord, I do not know what to ask of You.You alone know what I need.You love me morethan I know how to love myself.

Father, give Your servantwhat I myself do not know how to ask.I dare not ask for a cross or for comfort.I only stand before You.My heart is open to You.You see needs that I do not know.See, and act according to Your mercy.Strike me and heal me,cast me down and lift me up.I stand in awe and silencebefore Your holy willand Your judgments, which are past my understanding.

I offer myself to You as a sacrifice.I have no other wishbut to do Your will.Teach me to pray.Pray in me Yourself.Amen.

Traditional wording, 2016

O Lord, I do not know what to ask of Thee.Thou alone knowest what I need.Thou lovest me more than I know how to love myself.

O Father, grant Thy servant what I myself do not know how to ask.I do not dare to ask a cross of Thee, nor consolation;I only stand before Thee with my heart open;Thou seest the needs that I myself do not know.Look, and work in me according to Thy mercy;smite and heal me, cast me down and raise me up!I am reverent and silent before Thy holy willand ways that are unfathomable to me.

I offer myself as a sacrifice to Thee;teach me to pray.Do Thou Thyself pray in me. Amen.

It chooses nothing for itself and dares not ask “for a cross or for comfort.” Then you offer yourself to God as a sacrifice, with no wish but to do His will.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Russian of the Orthodox prayer book, with OrthoChristian.com’s 2016 wording beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: OrthoChristian.com, St. Philaret of Moscow: Daily Prayer and Prayer of the Prisoner, 2016.

It leaves out one line of the Russian: “I have no other wish but to do Your will.”

Where it comes from, and the Russian

Giving your life to His will

Prayer of St Dimitri of Rostov

Plain English only: no traditional English wording is given for this prayer

Save me, my Saviour,according to Your goodnessand not according to my deeds.

You want to save me;You know how to save me.So save me as You will,as You can, as You know.By the ways You know, save me.

I put my hope in You, my Lord,and I entrust myself to Your holy will.Do with me what You will.

If You want me in the light,may You be blessed.If You want me in the darkness,may You be blessed again.

If You open the doors of Your mercy to me,all is good and well.If You shut the doors of Your mercy on me,blessed are You,Who shut them on me justly.

If You do not destroy me along with my sins,glory to Your boundless mercy.If You destroy me along with my sins,glory to Your righteous judgment.

Order all that concerns meas You will.

This prayer, credited to St Dimitri of Rostov, puts your whole life in God’s hands. It blesses God in light or in darkness, whether the doors of His mercy open or shut.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Church Slavonic of the prayer book. How the wording is made.

Where it comes from, and the Church Slavonic

Scripture for this

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it happen to me according to your word.” Then the angel left her.

Luke 1:38 Mary’s answer to the angel Gabriel, giving herself to God’s plan for her life.

When he would not be dissuaded, we quieted down and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”

Acts 21:14 Paul’s friends could not talk him out of going to Jerusalem, so they gave way and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”

⁸“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. ⁹“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

Isaiah 55:8-9 God’s thoughts and ways are higher than ours, as the heavens are higher than the earth.

⁷But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him. ⁸He is like a tree planted by the waters that sends out its roots toward the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes, and its leaves are always green. It does not worry in a year of drought, nor does it cease to produce fruit.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 The one who trusts in the LORD is like a tree planted by water, which does not fear when the heat comes.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, without knowing where he was going.

Hebrews 11:8 Abraham trusted God enough to set out without knowing where he was going.

Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

Romans 12:1 Paul urges Christians to offer their whole selves to God as a living sacrifice.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.

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