A Prayer for teachers

Loving God, I thank you for the children I teach. I thank you for my colleagues and for all of the people that come together to provide an education for all children.

Lord, there are times when I feel tested in my calling. Give me the strength and vision to help in a gentle and kind way, the children that challenge me, that find learning tough and that can be difficult to like. Give me the skills to nurture those that are sad, lost, and easily overlooked.

I thank you for all of the children that have had an impact on my life and have taught me unexpected lessons. I thank you for the children that make me laugh, smile, and contribute through their hard work or simply by being themselves.

Help us to remember that we are all your children and made in your image, and as such we are all created equal with our own roles to play. Help us to support and love one another in order that we feel valued and can carry out our roles in the most wonderful and inspirational way possible.

Amen (by SG)

A Prayer for those going through divorce

Loving God, in my anger and despair I pray to you. I pray that you understand this anger and are with me and hold me as I journey through the turmoil of divorce.

Forgive me for my unpleasant thoughts and words, forgive me for failing, forgive me for causing my children so much hurt. Be with me as I grieve and seek to heal from this nightmare of divorce. I feel so alone and so afraid and feel I have only you.

Please God help me to know and not lose sight that You are with me as I try to create a new life for myself. Remind me that You will never leave nor forsake me.

Grant me hope in You that I may find love again and should my path in life be that of a single person, encourage me and reassure me of the fact I am never alone as I strive to lead my life in You and with You.

Amen  (anon)

A Prayer for stillness

Loving God, help me to recognize and cope with the pressures of being busy – when at times it feels like I cannot keep all the balls in the air and all the plates spinning, help me to remember that You are always there with me, supporting and guiding. I thank You for giving me all the opportunities that the busyness presents: meeting, fixing, organizing, helping, loving, supporting, and doing for others – opportunities to make a difference. They say if you want something done, give it to a busy person, so thank you for letting me be one of those “busy” people. However, Lord, help me also to know that there is no harm in sometimes saying “no” and that I don’t need to feel guilty.

Time is a gift and being released from one project will give me the strength to do justice to another or recuperate to be ready for the next one. Through all the busyness, the stress, and the pressure, help me to maintain contact with You and the strength You provide. Give me a few minutes every day to stay connected to You and to reflect on the gifts You have given me, the opportunities You are presenting and how, with Your strength, I can use those gifts to thrive in the busyness, take the opportunities, and make a difference.

Amen (JB)

A Prayer for busy lives

Loving God, help me to recognize and cope with the pressures of being busy – when at times it feels like I cannot keep all the balls in the air and all the plates spinning, help me to remember that You are always there with me, supporting and guiding. I thank You for giving me all the opportunities that the busyness presents: meeting, fixing, organizing, helping, loving, supporting, and doing for others – opportunities to make a difference. They say if you want something done, give it to a busy person, so thank you for letting me be one of those “busy” people. However, Lord, help me also to know that there is no harm in sometimes saying “no” and that I don’t need to feel guilty.

Time is a gift and being released from one project will give me the strength to do justice to another or recuperate to be ready for the next one. Through all the busyness, the stress, and the pressure, help me to maintain contact with You and the strength You provide. Give me a few minutes every day to stay connected to You and to reflect on the gifts You have given me, the opportunities You are presenting and how, with Your strength, I can use those gifts to thrive in the busyness, take the opportunities, and make a difference.

Amen (JB)

A Prayer for families affected by cancer

Loving God, You are our Creator, the One who knitted us together and who knows us so well. We confess that we don’t always turn to you. Help us to trust you and to keep you central in our lives.

We thank you for your grace and for your endless mercy, for our daily bread, and for family and friends. We bring before you our great anxiety for our loved one, who has been diagnosed with cancer. We are devastated, Lord. It is so difficult waiting for the results of endless scans, sometimes bringing yet more bad news. It is just so much to deal with.

Lord, we don’t know how this journey will go, but we pray that you will direct and enable the oncology and medical teams to make the right recommendations and decisions. Keep your healing hands on us all, Lord, but especially draw near to all most affected by the worry of this illness. Most of all dear Lord, we pray for peace and stillness for us all.

We pray in the precious name of Your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Amen (by JSR)

A Prayer for those with dementia

Loving God, It is hard to understand what is happening to me. I no longer feel in control of my life. I feel lost, frightened, and confused. I now struggle at times to find words, retain new information and sometimes don’t recognize people I knew so well.  In prayer Lord, I ask you to be with me and help me to find ways to cope with this frightening new world in which I find myself. Help me to remember that your love is with me as I face what lies ahead.

I give thanks for my family and friends who support and care for me as best they can. Help them to forgive me when I am cross with them despite all their efforts. I thank You for the medical staff and support agencies who try to minimize the effects of this illness. Help me to not be afraid to ask for help and accept help when it is offered, and I pray that all people diagnosed with dementia are treated with the respect and dignity they deserve.

Help me God, not to be fearful of what lies ahead but to accept each day as it comes, knowing that you walk with me. Help me to remember that you will never leave me as I journey on this difficult path.

Amen (anon)

A Prayer for those who are traveling

Loving God, You are Lord of all!

Thank you for giving me this amazing world to live in, and for the ability to travel.

As I travel, help me to be open to the wonder and variety of your creation.  Help those I left at home to know your embrace when they can’t feel mine. Wherever I go, help me to show Your love, to share Your generosity, and build Your peace. And when my journey is over, remind me to give thanks for new experiences, for new friendships, and for a safe return.

In Jesus’ name, Amen (by AM, LH)

A Prayer for the loss of a husband

Loving God, I feel so alone, even when I am surrounded by people – even those who love me and are closest to me. Only you understand the pain when a wave of grief washes over me and takes my breath away. Loving God, I believe that you are going through this with me: hold me fast by your right hand and do not let me be overwhelmed.

As I look around me at the mementoes of our life together and feel again the sense of loss, help me to be thankful for the many blessings which we shared. Loving God, may my memories begin to bring comfort.

“Normal” is now so very different – there is nobody there when I come home to welcome me with a smile, to kiss my cheek, to listen. Lovingly walk with me Lord, as I try to make a new “normal” which I pray will, in time, give me relief from the sadness and feelings of hopelessness.

Loving God, you have promised to always be with me. Help me to try to live a life without my husband.

Amen (anon)

A Prayer for children and divorce

Loving God, Please remind my mom and dad that I still need their love even if they fight all the time and are divorcing.

Sometimes things are difficult enough at school and on the playground without all this happening at home too.

God, can I ask you to help me be strong and try to accept this divorce even if I don’t want it. And when it all gets too much for me, will You hold me tight?

Thank you, God, for always being there for me even if I can’t see you.

Amen (anon, Age 12)

A Prayer for sick children

Loving God, Thank you for all that You have done for us, and all that You have given us. We thank You for the precious gift of life, and for Your continuing presence, giving meaning and purpose to all that we do.

We remember how fragile our earthly lives are and thank You that You hold us safely in your hand. It is when we look upon a child who is sick or unwell that we realize fully how fragile life can be, and we feel helpless and impotent in the face of their suffering. Grant us the faith and courage to trust in Your care and compassion, knowing that nothing can separate us from You or Your love. As Jesus blessed the children who were brought to him, we ask Your blessing for all children who need your healing.

Gather them into your safe keeping and surround them with Your love. Enable us to entrust them to Your care and calm the fears and concerns in our hearts. Help us to be still and know that You are God, and that You are with us and our children.

Amen (by JTR)

A Prayer for those affected by suicide

Loving God, Thank you that you are always with me listening and sharing my sorrow. The feeling of despair is overwhelming and the question of ‘why’ ever present. Why did this happen? Why did it happen to such a lovely person? Why did it have to happen?

I can only see what has happened from my perspective, but you can see the whole picture. Your wisdom is beyond understanding and therefore I will trust in You.

You bring hope that, in time, this life-consuming despair will lessen and hope that by trusting in You, Your peace will settle within me. I will be at peace, and I know that the person I love so dearly also rests in peace with you.

Amen (anon)

A Prayer for caring for people with dementia

Loving God, In prayer I bring to you my despair at watching someone I love change from the capable person they were to someone who finds even the simplest task a challenge. Please give me the strength to do my best to provide the support required in my role as caregiver. Forgive me, Lord, when I am at the end of my rope, and help me to remember that my loved one is simply lost and frightened and does not intend to challenge me. Encourage me to think of strategies which will help my loved one cope as the illness progresses.

I give thanks for the support given by friends, family, medical staff, and other agencies. I give thanks for the joy when a solution is found, even if it is only for a short while.  I pray that You will guide those involved in research to find a cure for this cruel illness and that sufficient funding is invested by those in power.

Loving God, help all caregivers of people suffering with dementia never to forget that you walk with them and that your love and blessing remain with them at all times.

Amen (by NC)

A Prayer for mental illness

Loving God, We thank You for Your care and compassion for us. We thank You for the value You place upon up which we can barely understand, particularly at times when we find it tough to see ourselves as of any value to anyone.

We thank You that in Your Son, Jesus, You took on human form and are able to identify with our weakness, our sadness, our distress, and our lack of hope. Your Word tells us that You are the giver of hope, a God of comfort, and able to stand with us in times of trouble and anguish. We ask You this day to be close to us, to help us look to You and Your word and to know Your presence with us. Walk beside us Lord.

Grant us even a glimpse of the peace that comes from knowing that you are our God and that You love us so much that You sent Your only Son to be our savior.

We ask all this in His name.

Amen (by TB)

A Prayer for seeking to understand poverty

Loving God of justice and compassion, I come to You in all humility seeking Your guidance. You tell me You came to “bring good news to the poor”. You tell me that a poor widow gives a fraction of a penny, yet she gives “more than all the rich who put in large amounts”. Paul was “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing and yet possessing everything”. Heavenly Father, am I ‘poor’ or ‘rich’? Forgive me, Lord, for the use of money as a measure of all things.

I pray for the continuing disparities between those who have so much and those who have so little. Free me from my focus on material goods.

Lord, fill me with a living faith that I may grow in Your way of love. Make me an instrument of personal and social reconciliation and a vehicle for a new dawn when those in poverty – in any way – are welcomed to the table where compassion and justice meet.

In Jesus name I pray.

Amen (anon)

A Prayer for the loss of a child

Loving God, You gave us the gift of a beautiful, loving child who brought such joy to our lives that we cannot imagine life without them. We long to see them again but it comforts us to know that they are safe and happy with You.  When our child walked into a room, the whole room lit up. Now that light has gone out and we desperately need Your help.

It happened so suddenly; we weren’t prepared for this, and we didn’t have the chance to say ‘goodbye’ the way we would have wanted.  Our child had never been happier, full of the joy of being alive and making plans for the future; so we tell ourselves that it is better that they didn’t know they wouldn’t realize their dreams. This has to be the worst thing that can happen to a parent, but You know how we feel, Father. You know the crushing pain, the emptiness, and the great despair at the thought of never seeing and holding your child again.

We thank You, God for the love that friends, family, and people we hardly know have shown to us; for those who understand our great need to talk about our child, and those who don’t know what to say and just give us a hug. May we show the same love to others. Please take care of our child, Heavenly Father, until we are all reunited in You.

Amen (anon)