Inspirational Daily Prayers: Lord’s Prayer, Hail Mary

23 famous prayers for peace, strength, and devotion.

Last updated Jan 22, 2024

It has been said that for daily prayers if all anyone ever prayed was, “Thank You, God,” that would be enough. And, yet, as we proceed on our spiritual journeys through our lives, our conversations with God may vary depending on many things.

If we’re going through challenging times, we might ask for strength. If we are thankful for all of our blessings, we might say prayers of thanksgiving or devotion. Or, we might have a specific petition to request, e.g., “Please let John be healthy after his surgery.”

The following 23 daily prayers cover the gamut, and hopefully, you’ll find a few to your liking.

Inspirational Daily Prayers

In centuries gone by, and for many today, praying takes place three times a day: morning, noon, and evening. Many people say a prayer before meals, especially the evening meal. And, in response to what’s going on in your life, you might find yourself praying more. The collection of prayers below may help facilitate your praying.

1.) Mother Teresa Prayer

People are often unreasonable, irrational and self-centered; forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies; succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere, people may deceive you; Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight; Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous; Be happy anyway.
The good you do today will often be forgotten; do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough; Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God; it was never between you and them anyway.

Prayer For Peace

2.) Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi — Instrument of Your Peace prayer

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is discord, union;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light; and
where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand; t
o be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and
it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Prayer For Strength

3.) The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;

Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.

Amen.

Check out 13 social distancing hacks.

The Lord’s Prayer

4.) The Lord’s Prayer — The Our Father

Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

[Sometimes added:

For Thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever]

Amen.

Traditional Prayers

5.) Hail Mary prayer

Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

6.) Twenty-Third Psalm – Psalms 23: 1-6

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil;
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff–they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.

7.) Nicene Creed — Daily Prayers

I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through Him, all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,

and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.

For our sake, he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.

I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Prayer For Devotion — Daily Prayers

8.) The Angelus prayer

℣. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary,
℟. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary, full of grace; the LORD is with thee: blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.

℣. Behold the handmaid of the LORD.
℟. Be it done unto me according to thy word.

℣. And the Word was made flesh.
℟. And dwelt among us.

Hail Mary, full of grace; the LORD is with thee: blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.* Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.

℣. Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God.
℟. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray,
Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O LORD, Thy grace into our hearts; that, we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection. Through the same Christ our Lord.

℟. Amen.

℣. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
℟. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen.

Prayer For Protection — Daily Prayers

9.) “The Footprints in the Sand” Prayer

One night I had a dream…

I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord, and
Across the sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand;
One belonged to me, and the other to the Lord.
When the last scene of my life flashed before us,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that many times along the path of my life,
There was only one set of footprints.

I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest
and saddest times in my life
This really bothered me, and I questioned the Lord about it.
“Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you,
You would walk with me all the way;
But I have noticed that during the
most troublesome times in my life,
There is only one set of footprints.
I don’t understand why in times when I
needed you the most, you should leave me.

The Lord replied, “My precious, precious
child. I love you, and I would never,
never leave you during your times of
trial and suffering.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you.

Catholic Prayers

10.) Iona Community prayer — Daily Prayers

Bless to me, O God, the earth beneath my feet,
Bless to me, O God, the path whereon I go,
Bless to me, O God, the people whom I meet,
Today, tonight and tomorrow. Amen

11.) Let Me Serve You – St. Theresa of Avila — Daily Prayers

Govern everything by your wisdom, O Lord, so that my soul may always be serving you in the way you will and not as I choose.

Let me die to myself so that I may serve you; let me live to you who are life itself.
Amen.

12.) Glory Be

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.

13.) Saint Teresa of Calcutta Daily Prayer

Dear Jesus,

help us to spread your fragrance
everywhere we go.
Flood our souls with your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly
that our lives may only be a radiance of yours.
Shine through us and be so in us
that every soul we come in contact with
may feel your presence in our soul.
Let them look up and see no longer us, but only Jesus.
Stay with us and then we shall begin to shine as you shine,
so to shine as to be light to others.

The light, O Jesus, will be all from you.
None of it will be ours.
It will be you shining on others through us.
Let us thus praise you in the way you love best
by shining on those around us.
Let us preach you without preaching,
not by words, but by our example;
by the catching force –
the sympathetic influence of what we do,
the evident fullness of the love our hearts bear to you. Amen.

Mother Teresa Video

14.) Hail Holy Queen Prayer (Salve Regina)

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope.
To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve.

To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.
Turn then, most gracious, Advocate, Thine eyes of mercy towards us.

And after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

Pray for us O Holy Mother of God,
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Amen.

15.) Suscipe — St. Ignatius of Loyola — Daily Prayers

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
my memory, my understanding,
and my entire will,
All I have and call my own.

You have given all to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.

Everything is yours; do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace,
that is enough for me.

Prayers To Saints — Daily Prayers

16.) St. Jude Prayer

O most holy apostle, Saint Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the Church honoureth and invoketh thee universally, as the patron of hopeless cases, and of things almost despaired of.

Pray for me, who am so miserable. Make use, I implore thee, of that particular privilege accorded to thee, to bring visible and speedy help where help was almost despaired of.

Come to mine assistance in this great need, that I may receive the consolation and succor of Heaven in all my necessities, tribulations, and sufferings, particularly…

(insert your prayer request here)

…and that I may praise God with thee and all the elect throughout eternity.

I promise thee, O blessed Jude, to be ever mindful of this great favor, to always honor thee as my special and powerful patron, and to gratefully encourage devotion to thee.

Amen.

17.) Christ Be With Me – St. Patrick’s Prayer

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ where I lie, Christ where I sit, Christ where I arise,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
Salvation is of the Lord.
Salvation is of the Christ.
May your salvation, Lord, be ever with us.

18.) Lead Us – St. Augustine

Lead us, O God, from the sight of the lovely things of the world
To the thought of thee their Creator;
And grant that delighting in the beautiful things of thy creation,
we may delight in thee, the first author of beauty
and the Sovereign Lord of all thy works, blessed forevermore.

19.) Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel

Holy Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle.
Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil.

May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do you,
O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander through the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.

Prayer Before Meals — Daily Prayers

20.) Bless us, O Lord

Bless us, O Lord, and these your gifts
which we are about to receive from your goodness.

Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

We seek refuge under your protection, O Holy Mother of God. Do not despise our pleas – we who are put to the test – and deliver us from every danger, O glorious and blessed Virgin. pic.twitter.com/Ubk6RummYP

— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) March 11, 2020

Prayer for Children

21.) Pope Francis Five Finger Prayer

1.) The thumb is the closest finger to you. So start praying for those who are closest to you. They are the persons the easiest to remember. To pray for our dear ones is a “sweet obligation.”

2.) The next finger is the index finger. Pray for those who teach you, instruct you, and heal you. They need God’s help as they offer direction for others.

3.) The following finger is the tallest. It reminds us of our government leaders and others who have authority. They need God’s guidance.

4.) The fourth finger is the ring finger, which is also our weakest finger. It should remind us to pray for the weakest among us—the sick, the poor, those excluded from society, and those plagued by other problems.

5.) And finally, we have our smallest finger, the smallest of all. Your pinkie should remind you to pray for yourself. When you are done praying for the other four groups, you will be able to pray for your own needs in a better way.

22.) Guardian Angel Prayer

Angel of God,
my guardian dear,
To whom God’s love
commits me here,
Ever this day,
be at my side,
to light and guard,
Rule and guide.

Amen.

23.) Now I lay me down to sleep prayer (The New England Primer version — Daily Prayers)

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord, my soul, to keep
If I should die before I ‘wake,
I pray the Lord, my soul, to take.

How to Use These Daily Prayers

Prayers are really conversations with God. The prayers above provide a structure to those conversations. Also, you should feel free to converse with God in a less prepared manner. A combination of structured and unstructured prayer is what many people like.

Much like a relationship with a friend or family member, your relationship with God may ebb and flow. That is to be expected. A consistent pattern of praying regularly with these prayers and others should help your relationship.

By Mike O’Halloran

Mike is a writer and co-founder of ListCaboodle.

Extra Extra

You’re on the Inspirational Daily Prayers: Lord’s Prayer, Hail Mary page.