Seeking God

Lord, teach me to seek you,
and reveal yourself to me as I look for you.
For I cannot seek you unless first you teach me,
nor find you unless first you reveal yourself to me.

Prayer of St Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
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,
to be loved, as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

In need

When our lives are empty, our hearts are cold and our spirits are low;
Christ of the Bethlehem stable, be born in us.

When we find temptation and the snare of power and pleasure hard to bear;
Christ of the desert wilderness, pray with us.

When we rejoice in health and happiness and life seems fair and good;
Christ of the roads of Galilee, walk with us.

When we seek our own interests and concerns before those of others;
Christ of the Temple cleansing, deal with us.

When our decisions are hard, our ways are stony and our hopes are dim;
Christ of Gethsemane, weep with us.

When we tread the paths of suffering and loss, of bitterness and despair;
Christ of the cross at Calvary, stay with us.

When our journey is ended and we bring our souls into your keeping;
Christ of the empty tomb, welcome us.

When things go wrong

Lord, this is what went wrong...
I give it all to you, every detail, every barb, every frustration,
The major things and the petty things.
May the pain I am feeling be for healing,
and not a spring of bitterness.
May my hurts be Christ-centred, and for those involved,
rather than self-centred and against them.

When busy and tired

O living God,
when I am tired and cross and despairing,
distracted by many thoughts,
eaten up by multiple demands,
and hungry for your peace;
help me to offer again
the five loaves and two fishes
that you have given me,
and so discover again
the miracle of the strength
that comes in sharing everything
when we have nothing.
Julie M. Hulme
When someone is sick

Jesus our healer,
we place in your gentle hands those who are sick.
Ease their pain,
and heal the damage done to them in body, mind or spirit.
Be present to them through the support of friends
and in the care of doctors and nurses,
and fill them with the warmth of your love
now and always.
Amen.

Justice

You have shown us, Lord, what is good.
Enable us, we pray,
to act justly,
to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with you, our God.

When someone has died

O God who brought us to birth,
and in whose arms we die:
In our grief and shock
contain and comfort us;
embrace us with your love,
give us hope in our confusion,
and grace to let go into new life,
through Jesus Christ.
Amen.

Feeling lost

Father, when I am lost and lose sight of you,
when I forget my prayers
and I'm swept away with life and all its difficulties,
when I cannot answer my friends' questions about my faith
even though I know the answer,
when I'm too busy,
and, like homework I cannot do,
you get shoved to the bottom of the pile.
Remind me that all I have to do is STOP!!
For I know that you will find me
and will meet me wherever I am.
Amen.