If I’m honest, I kind of stumbled into this exercise. I began in response to a cousin who had serious back surgery and was quarantined during the pandemic. Then something happened: The contributions of this “cloud of witnesses” captured my imagination. I compiled a year’s worth of prayers in Prayers from the Cloud—365 prayers in all … and then I kept going.
We learn to pray by praying. When the disciples ask Jesus for help with prayer, he doesn’t deliver a treatise on the subject. He gives them a sample to pray (known to us today as “the Lord’s Prayer”). Praying other people’s prayers deepens our prayer life.
These prayers span 20 centuries. One benefit of ancient prayers is helping us correct distortions of our modern age.
If you are new to this site, here are a few of my favorites to get you started…
Christina Rossetti
I admire Christina Rossetti (1830-1894) as a poet. Her depth of feeling, keen insights, and spiritual sensitivities win my admiration. While she could be introspective and overly serious, she periodically displayed a lighthearted, playful mood, as evidenced in turning...
Suzanna Wesley
Suzanna and Samuel were married forty-six years. They didn't have an easy time of it. They possessed strong personalities and definite opinions. Case in point: politics. Suzanna supported King James II while Samuel preferred his successor, King William. One day at...
Thomas Dorsey
Why don't we tell the stories that accompany the hymns we sing? Virtually every song has a story to accompany it. So many hymns emerge out of pain and intense struggle. Once you know the story behind the hymn "Precious Lord, Take My Hand," you'll never sing it the...
John Milton
John Milton (1608-1674) was nearing the end of his eventful life. He felt as if he had one last poem in him. He rose each morning at 5:00 a.m., meditated on his Hebrew Bible for an hour and offered the day in prayer. (John had learned ancient Hebrew as a child and as...
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Hitler's takeover of the German Evangelical Church was resisted by a small number of dissenting pastors like Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945). Dietrich challenged his pastoral colleagues to stand for Christ and not succumb to Hitler's fear tactics. The seminary...
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine (354-430) was restless. He identified his restlessness at the outset of his autobiography, the Confessions, "Thou hast made us for thyself and restless is our heart until it comes to rest in thee." As Augustine looked back over his life in 397 at age...
Hildegard of Bingen
I first learned about Hildegard of Bingen (ca. 1098-1179) in a Washington Post article about beer. This twelfth-century abbes (leader) of a convent in Germany was the first person to document the use of hops in making beer. I have come to find out she was no ordinary...
Thomas Aquinas
His parents had a cushy job picked out for him. Thomas would become abbot (leader) of a wealthy monastery that had grown lax in monastic rigor. Thomas Aquinas (ca. 1225-1274) did not share his parent's enthusiasm for this prearranged scheme. He aspired to set out for...
Irenaeus of Lyons
Dating back to the second century, today's prayer originated with Irenaeus of Lyons (in modern-day France) (130-202). Irenaeus was introduced to Christ through Polycarp, who was said to have been taught by the apostle John. We owe Irenaeus a debt of gratitude for...