Prayer to Preserve and Increase Faith

O gracious God! What mercy hast Thou not shown me, in that Thou hast brought me to the knowledge of salvation! I know the ground of my salvation, which is Jesus Christ with His merit, blood and death. I know the means of grace: the word of God and the holy sacraments. And I not only know these things, but I give assent to them; yea, I place all my hope and dependence on them. I know the true way to heaven; for whoever would come to God must believe. By this faith and knowledge I am distinguished from the unbelieving Jews, Turks, and heathen.

O God of all grace! Grant me Thy Holy Spirit, that He may cause this knowledge in me to be living knowledge. “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.” Grant me strength, that my faith may not be dead and unfruitful, but a living faith. Since I know Jesus Christ as my Saviour, I desire also to love Him, to obey Him, to hold Him more dear than all the world, to serve Him alone, and to refuse to do what my own flesh and the evil world prompt me to do. Nothing in all the world shall be so dear to me as Jesus.

As I recognize the means of grace, I will with Thy help employ them for my soul’s salvation. I will listen devoutly to Thy Word, and live in accordance with it. What Thy Word forbids, I will flee and forsake. And I will, on the other hand, by Thy help and the grace of the Holy Spirit, fulfill those duties and exercise myself in those virtues which Thy Word commands. The Holy Supper shall sanctify me wholly, I will partake of it frequently and reverently, as a food of sanctification for the strengthening of my faith and for my salvation, and will continue to grow in holiness.

O my God! Increase within me faith, holiness, and obedience, that with each day I may grow more pious, devout, and God-fearing, and become more and more conformed to the likeness of my Saviour. Keep me in this grace to my end, that I may live as a true and pious Christian, and may die at last in peace. Amen.