Prayer for the Day
A prayer for God's encouragement
God of mercy,
just now, grief comes easily, coupled with sorrow.
We bear witness to the devastation of war,
abuse of power and human cruelty.
We mourn loss of innocence,
that justice takes flight as our systems splinter.
God of goodness, change us.
Stir and inspire our hearts,
transform greed into grace,
fear into confidence.
Call us to speak for justice
grounded in love.
God of wisdom,
encourage us to seek and find joy,
and let it infuse our being.
May the hope that is in us defy the darkness. Amen.
Alternative Prayer for the Day
A prayer that God awaken us to others' need
Awaken us, O God, to that faith which clothes the naked, feeds the hungry, comforts the sorrowing, shelters the destitute and binds up the broken. Amen.
A prayer for light in the pit of despair
Lord of all hopefulness, your presence brings everlasting joy, greater than any fleeting high. We feel it when like the psalmist, we trust more in you than in ourselves and believe in your forgiveness, as you believe in our potential for good.
Lord of all gentleness, your presence is soothing balm for hurt and pain, a light in the psalmist’s dark pit of despair, grief or regret. Man of sorrows, you’ve plumbed those depths for us.
Calvary’s sorrow and love flows mingled down into the river of life, with your promise to always be there, guiding and loving us, Lord of all.
Rachel Shackleton, volunteer prison chaplain, Yorkshire North and East District
Monday 16 February 2015
“I do not even judge myself. I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.” (vv. 3b-4)
1 Corinthians 4:1-5