Barnes Manual of Prayer is a short work with example prayers on different topics which we should be using in our prayers.

Excerpt from Barnes Manual of Prayer

MANUAL OF PRAYER.

ACCOUNTABILITY.

O Thou Judge of the quick and the dead, make me realize that I am responsible to thee for all my thoughts, words, and actions; and in all my duties and privileges. Thou searchest my heart and triest my reins: thou knowest all the thoughts of my mind, with all the works of my life; and thou makest record of them :—and for all these thou wilt bring me into judgment, whether they be good or evil. Then there shall be nothing that now is covered that shall not be revealed; and hid that shall not be made known: and it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for my soul, if I fail to serve thee now in reverence and godly fear. O let not my stewardship of thy mercies be one of wilful sin, of abused privileges, and neglected duties; but grant that in all things I may strive, in the grace of Christ, to work out my salvation with fear and trembling.

But, O Lord, let not my anxiety for my own salvation blind my eyes to my duties to my fellow men. Excite me to diligent labour on behalf of thy church and of sinners. May I feel that I am bound to do good as I have opportunity ; looking diligently to the judgment of that day when the unprofitable servant shall be cast into outer darkness, while he that has been faithful shall enter, through the atonement of Christ, into the joy of his Lord. And unto him that is able to keep me from falling, and to present me faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and for ever.

ADOPTION.

Lord, wilt thou give me the spirit of adoption, by which I may cry ” Abba, Father?” I am indeed thine offspring by creation: may I be thine by adoption, and be thou my parent in that nobler relation of a reconciled God and Father in the Lord Jesus. Make me one of the number and give me, through the merits of Christ, a title to the privileges of thy dear children. Behold! what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on them, that they should be called the sons of God. O grant that in indulging this hope, I may purify myself, even as thou art pure. Make it a spirit of tenderness and reverence, of gratitude and love, of obedience and zeal. May it give me access to thy throne with an humble confidence in the faith of Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. May it enable me in all the vicissitudes of life to look up to thee as infinitely able and willing to bless me with thy paternal gifts: for if earthly parents know how to give good gifts to their children, much more will our Heavenly Father give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him. Grant that thy Spirit may bear witness with mine that I am thy child ; and if a child, then an heir, and a joint-heir with Christ, In that inheritance which fadeth not away.

Look in mercy, O God, on thy children by nature, who are wandering as prodigals from their home, and are living without God in the world. Touch their hearts with a feeling of their wants and their apostacy; and do thou bring many back, who shall say they have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and are not worthy to be called thy children. Establish them in the fellowship of thy saints, and make them heirs of the grace of life, through the Lord Jesus Christ.

ADORATION.

O Most High, thou dwellest in light that is inaccessible and full of glory. Thou art infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in thy being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth. Thou art not worshipped as though thou needest any thing; for thou givest unto all, life, and breath, and all things. Yet thou art exalted above principalities and powers, that at thy name every knee should bow, and every tongue confess. O, thou art infinitely worthy of the everlasting adoration of all thy rational creatures. Thou art glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders. In thee I live, and move, and have my being. From thee I derive every good and perfect gift. It was thy power which created me; it is thy wisdom that governs me; thy goodness that provides for me; and thy grace that save3 me. O help me, adorable Jehovah, to feel and express the infinite excellencies of thy character, and to bow before thee as over all, God, blessed forever.—[See Praise, andihe various Attributes.’]

AFFLICTION.

Prepare me, O Lord, for meeting and bearing all the adversities of life. Support or deliver me in poverty, in sickness, in pain, in bereavement, in persecution, in sorrow, in reproach. Let the trial of my faith in all these work patience and holiness. May I endure as seeing him who is invisible; and so repose on thy wisdom and goodness, that I may say—” Thy will be done—do with me as seemeth good in thy sight—• hou givest and takest away ; blessed be the name of the Lord.” Though thy judgments are unsearchable and thy ways past finding out, I know that thou art too wise to err; for thine understanding is infinite. Thou art too good to be unkind; for thou dost not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men; yea, whom thou lovest thou chastenest, and scourgest every child whom thou receivest.

O Shepherd of Israel, cause my every adversity to be sanctified to me. Lead me to acknowledge thy hand in it; to feel that my sins have far more than deserved it; and to be willing that thy justice may be exalted at my expense, and that I may be brought to say, ” I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, and that in faithfulness thou hast afflicted me.” Show me that my cup has been mingled with mercies ; for the days of my comforts have far outnumbered the hours of my sorrows—that my griefs are not peculiar to me; for they are the lot of humanity —that they are not the accidents of life; for thou doest all these things—and that I am not called to suffer them alone, for thou hast said, ” I will never leave nor forsake thee; and my rod and staff” they shall comfort and support thee, even in the valley and shadow of death.”

Lord, grant that thy grace may be peculiarly dear to me in the hour of trial. Enable me to say with thy servant, ” Before I was afflicted, I went astray ; but now I have kept thy word.” May that grace strengthen me, that I may glory in tribulation, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience a hope that maketh not ashamed. Lead me closer to thy throne, as the only place where I may find abiding help in every hour of need. Grant, merciful Father, that my troubles may lead me to sympathize with all who suffer in mind, body, or estate; remembering them that are in bonds, as being bound with them ; and them that suffer adversity, as being myself also in the body. Lord, cause my sorrows, which indeed are but for a moment, to wean me from the vanities and wickedness of earth, to prepare me for eternity, and to work out for me an eternal weight of glory : and vouchsafe to me, in all of them, the consoling thought, that though the earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved, I have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

Grant, O Lord, that the impenitent, when they suffer affliction, may be so influenced by it as afterwards to reap the peaceable fruits of righteousness. Let them not despise thy chastenings, nor faint when they are rebuked of thee. Convince them of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. Lead them to repent and forsake the error of their ways, and to turn unto him who maketh all things work together for good to them that love him.

These prayers I offer through the prevailing name of Jesus; to whom, with the Father and Spirit, be all honour and rule for ever.

ALL-SUFFICIENCY OF GOD.

Sovereign of the Universe, thou art the infinite source of blessedness. Giving doth not impoverish thee, neither doth withholding make thee rich. It is in thee that my weakness is made strength, and the iniquities of my heart removed. O Lord, let a full persuasion of thy boundless sufficiency fill my heart, that I may forsake the broken cisterns of human happiness, and go to the fountain of living waters. May I commit all my wants and trials to thee; may I be encouraged in the midst of danger and distress; be persuaded that infinite wisdom and goodness govern all thy dealings; and be led to persevere in faith and prayer, until the vision of hope be exchanged for thine open presence, where there is fulness of joy and pleasures for evermore.

ANGER.

Lord, strengthen me by thy grace, that I may restrain and conquer my propensities to unholy anger. Let it not cloud my brow, nor envenom my tongue, nor vex my heart. Teach me that he who ruleth his own spirit is greater than he who taketh a city; and that he who is hasty of spirit exalteth folly, and shall suffer punishment. He that soweth to the wind shall reap the whirlwind; but the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.—May I consider him who endured the contradiction of sinners, and seek not to avenge myself, but rather give place to wrath. Let me do nothing in rashness and strife. Enable me, in the exercise of candour, forbearance, meekness, and forgiveness, to disarm every temptation to sinful passion, and to cause the wrath of my adversaries to praise thee. Barnes manual of prayer (188 downloads )

Barnes Manual of Prayer

More Works on Prayer

• Whyte Lord, Teach us to Pray
• Smith Effective Prayer Life
• Murray, A. – With Christ in the School of Prayer
• Morgan, G.C. – The Practice of Prayer
• Lang Praying is Working
• Gordon, S.D. – Quiet Talks on Prayer
• Finney, C.G. – How to Pray to God.
• Benson Manual of Intercessory Prayer
• Anderson, T. – Prayer Availeth Much