Were our Hearts Not Burning? (Lk 24:32)
Fr. Paul Ward                                                                      Home

Prayer to Increase one's Love for Scripture
    Also good as a preparatory prayer before prayerfully reading Scripture.

(This prayer is inspired in the writings of several Fathers and Doctors  of the Church.)

God of heaven, Lord of heaven and earth,

you sent me letters of love for my life’s advantage,

letters which we now collect and call the Bible.

Yet I often neglect to read them,

or to read them with fervor and love.

Help me learn your mind and heart,

that I may be more on fire with love for you and for neighbor,

and that I may better relish the “things of above” (Col 3:2).[1]

Help me, God, to take time to read your word,

to not easily excuse myself due to my many duties.[2]

For when I read your reveled Word,

My heart thirsts for you,

my mind meditates on your word,

and I know that in the written words

I shall find the Word for whom I thirst.[3]

It is no small thing which you have done for me,

to have revealed yourself,

to have remembered me,

to have shown me the path of salvation.[4]

May my efforts bring me every day,

to accept the Church’s teachings in faith,

to put my mind at the service of your truth,

and to spread the good news of your salvation,

unto the ends of the earth.

Amen.