A Traditional Apache Grief Blessing

May the sun bring you new energy every day,
bringing light into the darkness of your soul.
May the moon softly restore you by night,
bathing you in the glow of restful sleep and peaceful dreams.
May the rain wash away your worries,
and cleanse the hurt that sits in your heart.
May the breeze blow new strength into your being,
and may you believe in the courage of yourself.
May you walk gently through the world,
keeping your loved one with you always.
Knowing you are never parted in the beating of your heart.

• Author Unknown

A Prayer Of Thomas Aquinas

“Give me, O Lord,
a steadfast heart,
which no unworthy thought can drag downward;
an unconquered heart,
which no tribulation can wear out;
an upright heart,
which no unworthy purpose may tempt aside.

Bestow upon me also, O Lord my God,
understanding to know thee,
diligence to seek thee,
wisdom to find thee,
and a faithfulness that may finally embrace thee;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

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• Taken From A Prayer Of Thomas Aquinas from the Book of Worship for Church and Home; The Methodist Church.

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Prayer For Those In Affliction

“Almighty and Everlasting God,
comfort of the sad
and strength to those who suffer:
Let the prayers of your children
who are in any trouble rise to you.
To everyone in distress grant mercy,
grant relief,
grant refreshment;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Amen.

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• Taken from The 1978 Lutheran Book of Worship

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Prayer After Election Day 2020

Creator God,
Three in One.

Creator
Savior
Spirt.

We admit that we don’t know how to pray for a country that is but an afterthought.

We remember that Israel’s “physical” king wasn’t necessarily a blessing.

Yes, you gave them what they asked for. But they lacked imagination and only asked for what they could see.

As do we.

Please forgive our blandness. Please forgive our indifference.

Please forgive us for trusting in fleeting Empire. 

Please forgive us for fighting for our liberties rather than laying them down.

Please forgive us for protecting the rich instead of lifting the Lowly. 

Creating, Sustaining, Forgiving, and Liberating God, 

Please show our country grace. In spite of us and yet for us.

Even though we don’t deserve it. 

Please forgive our arrogance. Please forgive “Manifest Destiny.” Please forgive our slaughter of the Innocents for the sake of land, money, and power, both on our own soil and others.

Please forgive the spirit of Systemic Racism which has infected our power structures. Please remind us of our neighbor. 

Please fill us with Love. 

Please let your face shine rather than ours.

A Responsive Reading About The Life of Love

“What is the great and first commandment?
Love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your mind.

What is the second commandment like it?
Love your neighbor as yourself.

What does this mean?
Love is the fulfilling of the law.

To what does this call us?
To a life of faith working through love.
(Based on Matthew 22:37040)

Hear the teaching of Christ:

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another just as I have loved you.”

(from John 13:34, SRSV)

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• Found in The Worship Sourcebook published by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, 2004)

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"Christ Has No Body But Yours"

“Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks with
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”

:: St. Teresa of Avila ::

An Evening Prayer From The Methodist Church

“Before the ending of the day,
Creator of the world, we pray
That with thy wonted favor thou
Would’st be our guard and keeper now.

From all ill dreams defend our eyes,
From nightly fears and fantasies;
Tread under foot our ghostly foe
That no pollution we may know.

O Father, that we ask be done,
Through Jesus Christ thine only Son,
Who, with the Holy Ghost and thee,
Doth live and reign eternally.
Amen.

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• Taken from The Book of Worship For Church and Home With Orders for the Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies According to the Use Of The Methodist Church.

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A Morning Prayer From The Methodist Church

“Now that the daylight fills the sky,
We make our prayer to God on high,
That he in all we do or say,
Would keep us free from harm this day;

Would guard our hearts and thoughts from shame,
Our tongues from strife, our lips from blame,
From evil sights defend our eyes,
And turn them from all vanities;

Would keep our inmost conscience pure,
Our souls from folly would secure,
The passion and the pride of sense
Restrain by prayer and abstinence.

So we, when this new day is gone,
And night once more is drawing on,
With conscience by the world unstained,
May praise his name for victory gained.

All praise to God the Father be,
All praise, eternal Son to thee,
Whom with the Spirit we adore,
For ever and evermore.
Amen.”

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• Taken from The Book of Worship For Church and Home With Orders for the Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies According to the Use Of The Methodist Church.

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Strive

“Strive that your actions day-by-day may be beautiful prayers.
Turn towards God and seek always to do that which is right and noble:
enrich the poor,
raise the fallen,
comfort the sorrowful,
bring healing to the sick,
reassure the fearful,
rescue the oppressed,
bring hope to the hopeless,
shelter the destitute!
Strive!”

(“Based on a talk given in 1911 by Abdu’l Baha, Baha’u’llah’s eldest son and appointed successor” and taken from the Interfaith Ministry Handbook)

"One Breath"

“One breath to let go.
One breath to be present.
One breath to ask, “Now what?”

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• (Credited to Thich Nhat Hanh and found in the Interfaith Ministry Handbook)

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"The Only Moment"

“Breathing in, I calm body and mind.
Breathing out, I smile with joy.
Dwelling in the present, this is the only moment.”

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• (Credited to Thich Nhat Hanh and found in the Interfaith Ministry Handbook)

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AA's Seventh Step Prayer

“My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good & bad. I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you & my fellows. Grant me strength, as I go out from here to do Your bidding.”

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• Found at 12 Step.Org

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AA's Third Step Prayer

“God, I offer myself to Thee — to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of life. May I do Thy will always!”

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• Found at 12 Step.Org

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AA'S Nightly Prayer

“God forgive me where I have been resentful, selfish, dishonest or afraid today. Help me to not keep anything to myself but to discuss it all openly with another person – show me where I owe an apology and help me make it. Help me to be kind and loving to all people. Use me in the mainstream of life God. Remove worry, remorse or morbid (sick) reflections that I may be of usefulness to others. AMEN.”

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• Found at The Page of Prayer

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AA'S Morning Prayer

“God direct my thinking today so that it be divorced of self pity, dishonesty, self-will, self-seeking and fear. God inspire my thinking, decisions and intuitions. Help me to relax and take it easy. Free me from doubt and indecision. Guide me through this day and show me my next step. God give me what I need to take care of any problems. I ask all these things that I may be of maximum service to you and my fellow man in the name of the Steps I pray. AMEN”

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• Found at The Page of Prayer

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AA's Pettiness Prayer

“Keep us, Oh God, from pettiness.
Let us be large in thought, in word, and in deed.
Let us be through with faultfinding and leave off self-seeking.
May we put away all pretense and meet each other face-to-face,
without self-pity or without prejudice.
May we always be patient,
never hasty in our judgment,
and always tolerant.
Teach us to put into action or better impulses,
straightforward and unafraid.
Let us take time for all things;
make us calm, serene, and gentle.
Grant that we may realize
that it is the little things that make the differences,
that in the big things we are as one.
And may we strive to touch and to know
the great and common heart of us all.
And, Oh, God,
let us not forget to be kind.”

(Originally from the AA Prayer Pamphet, but taken from the Interfaith Ministry Handbook)

Almighty God, The Fountain Of All Wisdom (Book of Common Prayer)

Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking: Have compassion on our weakness, and mercifully give us those things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask; through the worthiness of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

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• Found at Christ Church Episcopal

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Lord Of All Power And Might

Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.
Amen.

(Found at The Prayer Book Society)

You're Blessed

“You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

“You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

“You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.

“You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.

“You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.

“You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

“You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.

“You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.

“Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.”

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• Taken from Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of the Bible The Message.
  

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A Responsive Prayer For A Pandemic

“May we who are merely inconvenienced
Remember those whose lives are at stake.

May we who have no risk factors
Remember the most vulnerable.

May we who have the luxury of working from home
Remember those who must choose between
preserving their health or making rent.

May we who have the flexibility to care
for our children when their school closes
Remember those who have no options.

May we who have to cancel our trips
Remember those with nowhere safe to go.

May we who are losing our “margin money”
in the tumult of the economic market
Remember those with no margin to spare.

May we who settle into Quarantine in comfortable homes
Remember those who have no home.

As fear grips our country,
Let us choose Love.

During this time when we cannot physically
wrap our arms around each other,
Let us find ways to be the loving embrace of God to our neighbors.

Amen.

(author unknown)