Praying for mercy

We often equate mercy with clemency and compassion, but God’s mercy offers much more. His mercy offers us forgiveness, redemption, and peace. That’s true for us individually and also for God's family. 

We’re all in this together! So let’s pray to receive God’s mercy over us and our country. Let's do all we can to be at peace with God, each other, and ourselves.

Deuteronomy 21:8-9 – a prayer of Moses

from the King James Version of the Bible

Be merciful, O Lord, unto thy people Israel,

whom thou hast redeemed,

and lay not innocent blood

unto thy people of Israel's charge.

And the blood shall be forgiven them.

So shalt thou put away the guilt

of innocent blood from among you,

when thou shalt do that which is right

in the sight of the Lord.

From the Book of KJV Prayers - actual prayers from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV) collected by Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2019 

Deuteronomy 21:8 – a prayer of Moses

paraphrased into everyday language

Lord, You freed us!

Now please

make peace with us.

Don’t let the guilt

of unsolved offenses

reside with Your people.

Give us peace, Lord.

Give us peace.

From the Book of Bible Prayers – actual prayers of the Bible collected from a variety of translations and paraphrased into everyday English by Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2019

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Bible Prayers: forgive us

Almost every church family prays the Matthew 6 version of the “Lord’s Prayer” aka “Our Father” with regularity, unity and only one notable difference. i.e., When we get to verse 12, some say, “Forgive us our sins,” while others pray, “Forgive us our trespasses” – a word that doesn’t appear in the prayer itself but in the next two verses.

I like that word choice, however, because, from childhood on, I’ve seen “No Trespassing” signs and understood what they meant. Conversely, the idea of a debt wasn’t clear until much later, and, even now, “sin” is an abstract word that’s hard to envision, difficult to clarify, and open to interpretation.

As prayers for the Book of Bible Prayers came together, they remained in the order they appear in most translations. Then, each of those prayers was paraphrased into every day language with one exception – the Matthew 6 version of Jesus’ prayer as recorded in the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible:

Matthew 6:9-13 – a prayer of Jesus

“Our Father which art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done in earth,

as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil:

For thine is the kingdom,

and the power, and the glory,

for ever. Amen.”   

In King James' day, a "debt" may have been a particularly big deal as people sometimes wound up in debtors prison! 

Besides the beautifully poetic and powerful lines in Matthew 6, a lesser known version of the Lord’s Prayer has been paraphrased below as it appears in the prayer book but can be easily found in your favorite translation of the Gospel of Luke:

Luke 11:2-4 – a prayer of Jesus

Father in heaven,

may Your Name

be kept holy among us.

Bring us into Your kingdom.

Give us bread for the day.

Forgive us

as we forgive those who

have wronged us.

Keep us from temptation.

Deliver us

from a time of hard trials.

Amen!

MarySayler, ©2019

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May the peace of the Lord be with you

Don’t worry!
Be prayerful.

Ask God
for everything
you need, and
thank God,
even as you pray.

And the peace
of the Lord,
which is too great
to understand,
will keep watch
over your heart
and mind
in Christ Jesus.


Philippians 4:6-7 prayer-a-phrased by Mary Sayler, © 2017, using scripture from various translations on Bible Gateway

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