Prayers for others

I prayed for peace and that night a new conflict erupted.
I prayed for an end to poverty and that night a woman sleeping rough, was found dead in the parklands.
I prayed for the end to people-trafficking and, at last estimation, the trade had grown since last year.
I prayed for my friend to survive the operation. She did, but died a week later.

Lord, what am I doing when I bow my head, and in all earnestness, pray for the welfare of my family, my neighbours, my world?

Perhaps the question is, not what, but how should we pray.

May we have strength, even when we are at our lowest ebb, to smile at those who care for us.
When pleas for funds are made, and it would be easy to sigh and do nothing, let us make a decision to give, and not just our loose change.
When the sound of war drums grows louder and louder, let us go out to our garden and poke some seeds into the earth. Life must endure.

So, we pray…

That in every action and thought, we embody the spirit of the one who faced his tormentors with forgiveness, who cradled the child and saw innocence,
Who touched the diseased because he saw beyond the leprosy to the rejection and self loathing.
We pray to be like the Christ who commands us to love with a love that costs.
Great Spirit of Life, have us understand, that words only go so far, but they won’t fill a belly, they won’t build a shelter, they won’t stay the arm of the one determined to harm.

In praying for others, we are praying for ourselves.
So, this day,
We pray for an open heart. An open mind.
We pray for a door open to strangers.
We pray for an ear that not only listens, but hears deeply.
We pray for energy and resolve to do one more act of kindness just when we thought we were done.
And we pray for a determination to be the Christ for others, and to see in them, Christ imprinted.

We rise from our knees. There is work to be done and lambs to feed.

This we pray in Jesus’ name.
Amen

By Ashleigh Lower