Prayer for Purity of Intention

Purity of intention means doing things for God rather than for praise, comfort, or self-interest. The saints taught that even ordinary actions like cooking, working, studying, and caring for others become holy when they are done for love of God.

This short prayer, in the spirit of St. Nicholas of Flue's well-known prayer, asks God to remove whatever keeps us from Him, give us whatever brings us closer, and free us from self so that we may belong wholly to Him. Pray it in the morning with the Morning Offering, before important decisions or work, at the start of a retreat, or during an examination of conscience at night.

The Prayer

My Lord and my God, take from me everything that hinders me from Thee. Give me everything that draws me nearer to Thee. Detach me from myself, that I may belong entirely to Thee. Amen.

Traditional purity of intention prayer; classic spiritual books, public domain.