A General Prayer by Richard Baxter (Part One)

“The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” (James 5:16b)

The great Puritan pastor Richard Baxter used the following prayer as a general prayer in public worship (I have revised it slightly and organized it here into “points” as well as into three parts). Lending itself to “effectiveness and fervency,” not only is it useful for public worship, but it is a great prayer for us to use on a daily basis, as well as a model for our own prayers. Of course, a goodly portion of the fervency is up to you!

“O Holy God, righteous Father, Creator of all things—You alone are our deliverer, our hope, our sustainer: we lift up to You our petitions and pray that through Christ You would hear our prayers. We pray first of all:

• That You would help us to make our calling and election sure,
• That our faith and repentance would be genuine, and
• That we might have peace with You through Jesus Christ; we pray
• That Your would fill us with Your Holy Spirit, that You would sanctify us and dwell in us; and we pray
• That we would deny ourselves and give ourselves entirely to You as being not our own but Yours; we pray
• That Your name would be glorified throughout the world,
• That self-love, pride, and vainglory would be destroyed, and
• That You would cause us to love You, fear You, trust in You with all our hearts, and live for You; we pray
• That all the earth would subject themselves to You, their King,
• That all the kingdoms of the world would become the kingdoms of the Lord and of His Christ,
• That all atheists, idolaters, Muslims, Jews, and other unfaithful and ungodly people would be converted;
• We pray that You would send out more laborers into the harvest, and that the gospel would be preached throughout all the world; and
• That You would preserve and bless these missionaries and ministers in Your work; we pray
• That You would sustain those persecuted in other countries and in ours, that You would grant them perseverance and deliver them from the oppressor; we pray
• That You would unite all Christians in Jesus Christ, the one true and universal Head, in the true Christian and catholic faith and love; we pray
• That You would cast out heresies and corruptions, heal divisions; and
• That You would cause the strong [in the faith] to receive the weak and bear their infirmities; we pray
• That You would restrain the spirit of pride and cruelty, and let nothing be done in strife or vainglory;
• That You would keep us from atheism, idolatry, and rebellion against You;
• That You would keep us from infidelity, ungodliness, and sensuality; and
• That You would keep us from false security, presumption, and despair; we pray
• That we would delight to please You, and that Your Word would be the rule of our faith and lives;
• That we would love Your Word, and understand it, and meditate in it day and night; we pray, dear God,
• That we would neither corrupt nor neglect Your worship;
• That we would not take Your holy name in vain;
• That You would keep us from blasphemy, perjury, profane swearing, and lying; we pray also
• That You would keep us from a contempt of Your ordinances (worship, the Lord’s Supper, etc.);
• That You would keep us from false, unworthy, and unreverent thoughts and words about God and holy things; and
• That You would keep us from the neglect and profaning of Your holy day

Through Christ our Lord and for His sake. Amen.”