Prayers

Dear God,
Please watch over my beloved child as he lies in innocent slumber, with the purest of souls. With a broken heart I watch as disease robs him of his well-being, his health, his dignity, his consciousness, his life. He makes small movements, communicating in minute fashion to let me know he feels my presence. What is it about the human spirit that wants to soar even when the ugly face of illness attempts to drag it down? I struggle to understand why this dear, sweet soul must suffer. The pain of an anguished parent’s heart as I hover over my beloved child – ready to protect, defend, love…to give up my own life so that my child might live his. Lord, give me the strength to persevere as my child , devastated by disease, seems to slip away more and more each moment, all control over his well-being slipping through my hands. It is You, God, whom I turn to for that strength. For without my faith, all hope would be lost…taking with it all dreams for good things to come. Dear God, please hear my pleas and my prayers for my child. Do not abandon him .. Send him your healing love… he needs it now more than ever.

Amen.

Lorrie Klemons

However deep I am sunk in despair, Groaning in my distress, Yet will I hope in God, I will praise Him continually For He is my deliverer.

Amen.

Psalms 42:6

As I lie on this sickbed, I turn to You, O God, for support and healing. I see people walking, moving. I hear sounds all about me. Looking out of the window I follow the flight of birds, the movement of clouds. I hear the sounds of the wind against the trees. Never have I been more conscious of nature and its creative power. Deepen my awareness of nature even more, that I may be filled with gratitude for blessings which we too easily take for granted. May the time come soon when I too will be able to walk about, participate again in life’s natural pursuits, blessed by normality together with Your other living creatures.
Amen.
Author Unknown

The Lord is my help and my light. Whom need I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Whom need I dread? Though armies be arrayed against me, I have no fear. Though wars threaten, I remain steadfast in my faith. This I ask of the Lord, and for this I yearn: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all my life, That I may be permitted to enter His sanctuary, Where I shall behold the beauty of the Lord. I will bring Him offerings with shouts of joy; I will sing and chant praises to the Lord. O Lord, hear my voice when I call; Be gracious to me and answer me. “It is Your face that I seek,” says my heart. “It is Your presence that I crave, 0 Lord.” Do not hide Your presence from me; Turn not in anger from Your servant. Mine is the faith that I surely will see The Lord’s goodness in the land of the living. Hope in the Lord and be strong, Hope in the Lord and take courage.

Amen.

Psalm

Be with me, God. I feel so lost. I can’t seem to escape the dark cloud that is hanging over me today. Help me, God. Give me strength to combat despair and fear. Show me how to put my pain into perspective. Teach me how to have faith in the new day that is coming. Thank You, God, for today’s blessings, for tomorrow’s hope, and for Your abiding love.

Amen.

Rabbi Naomi Levy

We pray for children who put chocolate fingers everywhere, who like to be tickled, who stomp in puddles and ruin their new pants, who sneak Popsicles before supper, who erase holes in math workbooks, who can never find their shoes.

And we pray for those who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire, who can’t bound in the street in a new pair of sneakers, who never go to the circus, who live in an X-rated world.

We pray for children who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions, who sleep with the dog and bury the goldfish, who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money, who cover themselves with Band Aids and sing off-key, who squeeze toothpaste all over the sink, who slurp their soup.

And we pray for those who never get dessert, who have no safe blanket to drag behind them, who watch their parents watch them die, who can’t find any bread to steal, who don’t have any rooms to clean up, whose pictures aren’t on anybody’s dresser, whose monsters are real.

We pray for children who spend all their allowance before Tuesday, who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food, who like ghost stories, who shove dirty clothes under the bed and never rinse the tub, who get visits from the tooth fairy, who don’t like to be kissed in front of the carpool, who squirm in church and scream in the phone, whose tears we sometimes laugh at, and whose smiles can make us cry.

We pray for those whose nightmares come in the daytime, who will eat anything, who aren’t spoiled by anybody, who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep, and who live and move, but have no being.

We pray for children who want to be carried and for those who must, for those we never give up on and for those who don’t get a second chance. For those we smother…. and for those who will grab the hand of anybody kind enough to offer it.

And we pray for all children stricken with life threatening disease, whose small bodies grow weaker each day, and whose days are numbered without the help of strangers, whose hopes for the future lie in the hand of those same strangers, whose parents’ heartbreak cannot be measured, who lift up their eyes begging for someone to save them.

Oh, Lord, hear our cries…. listen to our prayers and save ALL OUR CHILDREN.

Amen.

Ina J. Hughes