Prayers

• Bedtime Prayers
• Morning Prayers
• Mealtime Prayers
• The Lord’s Prayer
• Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi
• Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebohr
• Prayer for those working in the church by Bishop Oscar Romero
• On Prayer
• Footprints in the Sand by Mary Stevenson

Bedtime Prayers   (back to top)

Watch o'er a little child tonight,
Blest Savior from above,
And keep me till the morning light
Within Thine arms of love.
Amen.

Morning Prayers   (back to top)

Grant, O Lord,that none may love Thee less this day because of me; that never a word or act of mine may turn one soul from Thee; and, ever daring, yet one more grace would I implore: that many souls this day, because of me may love Thee more. Amen.

Dear Lord, so far today I have done all right. I haven’t gossiped, haven’t been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish or over-indulgent.  I’m very thankful for that… however, in just a few minutes, I’m going to get out of bed. From then on, I’m going to need a lot more help. Amen.

Mealtime Prayers   (back to top)

Thank you for the world so sweet,
Thank you for the food we eat,
Thank you for the birds that sing,
Thank you God for everything. Amen.

For food in a world where many walk in hunger
For friends in a world where many walk alone
For faith in a world where many walk in fear
We give you thanks, O Lord. Amen.

Loving God, we thank you for this food,
And for all your blessings to us.
Lord Jesus, come and be our guest,
And take your place at this table.
Holy Spirit, as this food feeds our bodies,
So we pray you would nourish our souls. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer   (back to top)

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 debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi   (back to top)

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;
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;
to 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. Amen.

Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebohr   (back to top)

God, give us grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.

Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.

Prayer for those working in the church by Bishop Oscar Romero (to top)

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.

The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying
that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation
in realizing that. This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well. It may be incomplete,
but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.

Amen.

On Prayer   (back to top)

I got up early one morning,
And rushed right into the day;
I had so much to accomplish,
I didn’t have time to pray.

Troubles just tumbled about me,
And heavier came each task.
"Why doesn’t God help me?" I wondered.

He answered, "You didn’t ask."

I tried to come into God’s presence;
I used all my keys at the lock.
God gently and lovingly chided,
"Why, child, you didn’t knock."

I wanted to see joy and beauty,
But the day toiled on gray and bleak.
I wondered why God didn’t show me.
He said, "You didn’t seek."

I woke up early this morning,
And paused before entering the day.
I had so much to accomplish
That I had to take time to pray.

Footprints in the Sand by Mary Stevenson    (back to top)

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.

In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was one only.

This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord,

“You promised me Lord, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”

The Lord replied, “The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.”