Orthodox prayers for wisdom and guidance

Prayers for when you must choose and do not know the way. They ask God to show you His will and to help you do it.

Picture: Workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio, Tobias and the Angel, 1470–75

4 prayers

When you must decide

Solomon’s prayer for wisdom

And now, O Lord my God,You have set Your servantin the place of David my father.But I am a little child.I do not know how to go out or come in.

Your servant is here among Your people,the people You have chosen,a people too many to count.

So give Your servant a heart that listens,to judge Your people justlyand to tell good from evil.For who is able to judgethis great people of Yours?

Traditional wording, 1844

And now, O Lord my God,Thou hast appointed Thy servant in the room of David my father;and I am a little child,and know not my going out and my coming in.

But Thy servant is in the midst of Thy people, whom Thou hast chosen,a great people, which cannot be numbered.

Thou shalt give therefore to Thy servant a heart to hearand to judge Thy people justly,and to discern between good and evil:for who will be able to judge this Thy great people?

King Solomon felt like a little child before the task of ruling. When God told him in a dream to ask for anything, he asked for a heart that listens, to tell good from evil.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint), with Brenton’s 1844 translation beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: Lancelot C. L. Brenton, The Septuagint Version of the Old Testament, 1844.

Where it comes from, and the Greek

When you feel lost

St Augustine’s prayer for guidance

Now I love You alone.You alone I follow, You alone I seek.I am ready to serve You alone,for You alone rule by right.I long to be Yours.Order, I pray, and command whatever You will.But heal and open my ears,so that I may hear Your voice.Heal and open my eyes,so that I may see You beckon.Drive the madness out of me,so that I may know You again.Tell me where to look, so that I may see You,and I hope to do all that You command.

Lord, most merciful Father,take back, I pray, Your runaway.Surely I have been punished enough by now.Long enough I have served Your enemies,whom You hold under Your feet.Long enough I have been the plaything of lies.Receive me, Your servant, as I flee from Your enemies and their lies.For they took me in, though I was not theirs,when I was fleeing from You.

I feel that I must come back to You.I am knocking: let Your door be opened to me.Teach me how to reach You.I have nothing but the will to come.I know nothing but this:what passes and falls away must be rejected,and what is sure and eternal must be sought.This I do, Father, because it is all I know.But I do not know where the road to You begins.Prompt me, show me,give me what I need for the journey.

If those who run to You for refugefind You by faith, give me faith.If they find You by virtue, give virtue.If by knowledge, give knowledge.Increase my faith, increase my hope,increase my love.How wonderful, how matchless is Your goodness!

Traditional wording, 1888

Henceforth Thee alone do I love, Thee alone I follow, Thee alone I seek,Thee alone am I prepared to serve, for Thou alone art Lord by a just title,of Thy dominion do I desire to be.Direct, I pray, and command whatever Thou wilt,but heal and open my ears, that I may hear Thine utterances.Heal and open my eyes, that I may behold Thy significations of command.Drive delusion from me, that I may recognize Thee.Tell me whither I must tend, to behold Thee,and I hope that I shall do all things Thou mayest enjoin.

O Lord, most merciful Father receive, I pray, Thy fugitive;enough already, surely, have I been punished,long enough have I served Thine enemies, whom Thou hast under Thy feet,long enough have I been a sport of fallacies.Receive me fleeing from these, Thy house-born servant,for did not these receive me, though another Master’s, when I was fleeing from Thee?

To Thee I feel I must return: I knock; may Thy door be opened to me;teach me the way to Thee.Nothing else have I than the will:nothing else do I know than that fleeting and falling things are to be spurned,fixed and everlasting things to be sought.This I do, Father, because this alone I know,but from what quarter to approach Thee I do not know.Do Thou instruct me, show me, give me my provision for the way.

If it is by faith that those find Thee, who take refuge with Thee then grant faith:if by virtue, virtue: if by knowledge, knowledge.Augment in me, faith, hope, and charity.O goodness of Thine, singular and most to be admired!

Show the whole prayer

St Augustine wrote it in the months before his baptism, while he was still searching. He does not know where the road to God begins and asks God to show him.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Latin, with Starbuck’s 1888 translation beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: C. C. Starbuck, The Soliloquies of St. Augustin, 1888.

Starbuck says “Augment in me, faith, hope, and charity”; Augustine says “increase” three times, once for each, and this page keeps all three.

Where it comes from, and the Latin

To be shown the way

Psalm 143

LORD, hear my prayer;listen to my cry for mercy.Answer me in Your faithfulnessand in Your righteousness.

Let me hear of Your unfailing love in the morning,for I trust in You.Show me the way I should go,for I lift up my soul to You.

Teach me to do Your will,for You are my God.May Your good Spirit lead meon level ground.

LORD, revive me for the sake of Your name.In Your righteousnessbring my soul out of trouble.

Traditional wording, 1611

Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications:in Thy faithfulness answer me, and in Thy righteousness.

Cause me to hear Thy lovingkindness in the morning;for in Thee do I trust:cause me to know the way wherein I should walk;for I lift up my soul unto Thee.

Teach me to do Thy will;for Thou art my God:Thy Spirit is good;lead me into the land of uprightness.

Quicken me, O LORD, for Thy name’s sake:for Thy righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble.

David asks God to teach him to do His will and to lead him on level ground. The Church reads the whole psalm at the start of Matins, its morning service.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Hebrew (verses 1, 8, 10 and 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 the King James Version has “the land of uprightness”, the Hebrew means level ground.

Where it comes from, and the original

For discernment

Prayer for discernment

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

Lord, unworthy as I am,give me the grace of understanding,to discern what pleases Youand what is good for me,and not only to discern it, but to do it;

not to be carried away by empty thingsor to cling to them;to have compassion on those who suffer,and to bear with sinners.

The Russian prayer book credits it to St John Chrysostom and gives it for times when you are unsure how to act. It asks to see what pleases God, and then to do it.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Russian prayer book’s text, checked line by line against the Greek of the longer prayer. How the wording is made.

Where it comes from, and the Russian

Scripture for this

Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, Who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

James 1:5 If you lack wisdom, ask God for it. He gives generously to all without finding fault.

⁵Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust the Lord with all your heart rather than your own understanding, and He will make your paths straight.

And whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is the way. Walk in it.”

Isaiah 30:21 Whether God’s people turn right or left, they will hear a word behind them saying, “This is the way. Walk in it.”

I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will give you counsel and watch over you.

Psalm 32:8 God promises to teach you the way you should go and to watch over you as He counsels you.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

Romans 12:2 Be transformed by the renewing of your mind, and you will be able to test and approve God’s good, pleasing and perfect will.

However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come.

John 16:13 Jesus promised that the Spirit of truth would guide His disciples into all truth.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Psalm 119:105 God’s word is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.

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