Intercessory prayer is the purifying bath into which the individual
and the community must enter every day.
(Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
and the community must enter every day.
(Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
Before You Ask
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matthew 6:7-8)
Many people think their prayers won’t work if they don’t utter them clearly enough, or fail to explain to God exactly what they mean, or don’t speak loudly enough to him with sufficient earnestness. But when this happens, prayer becomes so exaggerated that our Savior even forbids it.
Obviously Jesus does not want to discourage us from praying. His point is that when we pray we must have a sense of proportion. Once we have prayed, we must be quiet. We need to be like the farmer who has sown his seed. Help will come only when you are quiet in faith. Also in your sickness or with other needs, learn to be still and look to the Kingdom of God.
We can share our needs with the Father in a few words, without making a fuss, and rest assured that God already knows what we need and what he will do to help us. We don’t have to explain our requests in great detail to God, or try and make quite sure that he knows our needs. God knows about even the smallest matters and takes them straight into his heart. We can turn to him by glancing Heavenward, with no words at all. We can do this even when we pray about something concrete and tangible, or about something that specifically troubles us. We may realize that what we thought we needed is actually not necessary and that we can find a way right in the midst of how things are now.
This doesn’t mean that we just let things happen – as if everything will come of its own accord without our longing for it. Nor should we just cast a brief and hurried request at God’s feet. When this happens, we too easily lose sight of God, assume that everything comes to us without his help, and we forget to thank him. Then we cease to have a believing heart and are consequently not true children of God.
Jesus said, “Before you ask him.” Therefore we do need to make our requests known to him, otherwise many things will not be given that could have been given. It never displeases God when we come to him with our heartfelt requests. A real child asks for everything, knowing God has an ear for him. We should bring all our burdens and needs to him, for at the very least this helps to make us ever more aware that in all things God is the giver.
God always has our interest in mind. He carries our various needs with fatherly concern, eagerly waiting for us to come to him. He has not forgotten us. And when we feel tempted to think so, then all the more we should remember that he knows it all and cares for us. In fact, he knows much more about us and our needs than we do. Simple, childlike prayer is enough to move his heart, give you something out of the fullness of his compassion, and save you from all sorts of fear and trouble.
(Johann Christoph Blumhardt)
(The God Who Heals, Words of Hope for a Time of Sickness)
Request a prayer and pray for others
To request a prayer, click on the blue button below that reads, Share Your Prayer Request.
To pray for others, look below the form to see what prayers have been requested.
You may add your prayer request to this prayer wall using the form below. Once your prayer request is received, I will share it according to your instructions. Feel free to submit as many prayer requests as you like!
Julia
Prayer to Archangel Gabriel
O blessed Archangel Gabriel, we beseech thee, do thou intercede for us at the throne of divine mercy in our present necessities, that as thou didst announce to Mary the mystery of the Incarnation, so through thy prayers and patronage in heaven we may obtain the benefits of the same, and sing the praise of God forever in the land of the living. Amen.
Received: July 13, 2018
Julia
Prayer for the Caribbean: Hark, the cry of my poor people from far and wide in the land!
The Lord God goes before you and carried you. (Deuteronomy 1:19-35)
The Lord upholds all who are falling. (Psalm 145:9-20)
The rich will disappear like a flower in the field. (James 1:9-11)
Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! (Luke 18:35-43)
The Caribbean economies have traditionally been based on the production of raw materials for the European market and so have never been self-sustaining. As a consequence, borrowing on the international market became important for development. The requirements of such borrowing impose a reduction of spending on transport, education, health, and other public services, which impacts most severely on the poor. The Caribbean Conference of Churches has launched an initiative to address the current debt crisis in the region and through their international networks to come to the aid of the poor.
Reflection
We can imagine the noise of the crowd as Jesus enters Jericho. Many voices shout down the cry of the blind beggar. He is a distraction and an embarrassment. But through all this tumult Jesus hears the blind man’s voice, just as God always hears the cries of the poor in the Hebrew Scriptures. The Lord who upholds the falling not only hears, he responds. Thereby, the beggar’s life is radically transformed.
The disunity of Christians can become part of the world’s tumult and chaos. Like the arguing voices outside Jericho, our divisions can drown out the cry of the poor. However, when we are united we become more fully Christ’s presence in the world, better able to hear, listen and respond. Rather than increasing the volume of discord, we are able to truly listen and so discern the voices that most need to be heard.
Prayer
Loving God, you lift up the poor and distressed and restore their dignity. Hear now our cries for the poor of our world, restore their hope and lift them up, that all your people may be one. This we pray in Jesus name. Amen.
The right hand of God is lifting in our land, lifting the fallen one by one; each one is known by name, and rescued now from shame, by the lifting of the right hand of God.
(Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity)
Received: July 12, 2018
Julia
A prayer for safety in Europe
We pray that God would raise up peacemakers and bring peace to countries where wars, violence, and persecution are forcing people from their homes. We also pray for peace and safety in countries that have allowed refugees in, hoping to help them, but finding their crime rates skyrocketing. Amen.
Received: July 12, 2018
Julia
Prayer for Palestine and Israel
Then justice will dwell in the land and righteousness abide in the fruitful field. The effect of righteousness will be peace and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. (Isaiah 32:16-17)
O God of life and love and peace, we witness the violence and injustice in your Holy Land and our hearts break.
Our hearts break for all Palestinians: for the victims of violent attacks from Israelis, for those who have endured decades of occupation and oppression, for those whose homes and olive orchards have been demolished, for those who languish in Israeli prisons and in the “open air prison” of Gaza, for those without nearly enough water and electricity and medical care, for those who are refugees, long displaced from their homes.
Our hearts break for the Jewish people of Israel: for the victims of violent attacks from Palestinians, for those who live with fear and insecurity, for those who re-live the trauma of the Holocaust over and over.
Our hearts break for the wider world: for those who are indifferent to the pain and suffering in your Holy Land, for those who distort or turn their eyes from truth, for those who fail to see the humanity of all your children.
Heal us all, O God. Heal the broken and comfort the sorrowful. Give hope to the hopeless and courage to the fearful. Strengthen the peacemakers and reconcilers. Confront those who practice injustice and commit violence.
We especially pray that weapons of war be laid down, that walls of separation and the machinery of occupation be dismantled, that prisoners be released, that demonizing of “the other” cease, and that political leaders seek the good of all people in Palestine and Israel.
We pray also for ourselves: that our eyes will be opened to the ways in which our beliefs and actions have contributed to injustice and to violence.
O God, whose heart breaks for the world, may your justice dwell in the land. May your righteousness abide in fruitful fields. May the effect of righteousness be quietness and trust forever. May the effect of justice be peace — enduring peace.
Amen.
(Mennonite Central Committee)
Received: July 12, 2018
Julia
Prayer for Pakistan
Loving and merciful God, we thank you for the church in Pakistan and thank you that it has stood firm in the midst of all the troubles it has experienced.
May the church in Pakistan know and experience your loving hand and comfort.
Please bring peace, harmony and understanding to this nation.
Amen.
Received: July 12, 2018
Julia
Prayer for peace, with special intention for Afghanistan
O God, by whose power alone men are enabled to live together as brethren, look upon the broken body of our humanity, and grant that wherever men meet in council for the ordering of the world, your Holy Spirit may bring them into unity. Let your forgiveness make us ready to forgive and to be reconciled to those from whom we are estranged; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(New Every Morning)
Received: July 12, 2018
Julia
Border Patrol Agent’s Desolation
As I walk through this desolation alone
I stay alert and maintain my senses hone
My backup I know is miles away
Yet from this resolute path I will not stray
Searing heat, freezing rain, or numbing cold
Do not impede my progress as I trek the forsaken road
My oath is to protect and serve
And I’ll be damned if I break my word
I reflect on the public’s scrutiny and their chastise
As I toil in the midst of threat, and darkness of night
Unbeknown to them is that I do not judge
I am unbiased, and from this credence I will not budge
For I do not decree a sentence upon anyone
I am only an Agent in pursuit of an entity on the run
I am aware that it takes just one for our boundaries to breach
In order to violate America’s children and her keep
It was not long ago that America beckoned foreigners with her luminous torch
Welcoming distant nations and their people to her gracious shores
Times are different now, and have become a threat
So I preserve my allegiance and labor with no regret
For when I lay that felon and his disgrace upon America’s feet
And bear witness to her defiance as she maintains a poise of no defeat
That I can attest to her anguish because I am there
To arrest the wolf in sheep’s clothing
While the oblivious sleep, and my beloved mother, wife, and children kneel in prayer
( Lee Cabrera)
Received: July 11, 2018
Julia
A Prayer For Migrant Children
Loving Father, in your infinite compassion, we seek your divine protection for refugee children who are often alone and afraid. Provide solace to those who have been witnesses to violence and destruction, who have lost parents, family, friends, home, and all they cherish due to war or persecution. Comfort them in their sorrow, and bring help in their time of need.
Show mercy to unaccompanied migrant children, too, Lord. Reunite them with their families and loved ones. Guide those children who are strangers in a foreign land to a place of peace and safety. Comfort them in their sorrow, and bring help in their time of need.
Show us how we might reach out to these precious and vulnerable children. Open our hearts to migrant and refugee children in need, so that we might see in them your own migrant Son. Give us courage to stand up in their defense against those who would do them harm.
For this we pray through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
Amen.
(United States Conference of Catholic Bishops)
Received: July 11, 2018
Julia
Pray for the revealing of Judge Kavanaugh’s views about critical issues.
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. (Rom 13:1)
We declare God’s sovereignty over this process, that he is more powerful than any committee, any hearing, any conglomerated media effort, etc. We pray for the revealing of Judge Kavanaugh’s views about critical issues. We need to pray that Judge Kavanaugh’s past decisions would be clearly understood in order to anticipate accurately how future decisions could be made. In particular, God’s heart is for the protection of the unborn, so we must pray that the new Supreme Court Justice will be a person open to the reversal of Roe v. Wade.
We pray for the protection for Judge Kavanaugh and his family from ungodly outside influences and spiritual forces. May the Spirit of God guide, direct, and protect this man, his wife, and two daughters.
We pray for protection of senators from outside influences. Targeted millions of dollars will be spent in the next few months in attempts to sway specific senators in this process by getting constituents to pressure their senators. In addition to this public pressure, there will be personal pressure on these same senators.
We must pray that our senators have a strong sense of the fear of God instead of the fear of man.
We pray that the anti-life/anti-God mainstream and social media would be stifled.
Amen.
(Intercessors for America)
Received: July 11, 2018
Julia
Pope Francis’s Prayer for Peace and Protection from Violence and from Terrorism
O almighty and merciful God, Lord of the universe and of history. All that you have created is good and your compassion for the mistakes of mankind knows no limits.
We come to you today to ask you to keep in peace the world and its people, to keep far away from it the devastating wave of terrorism, to restore friendship and instill in the hearts of your creatures the gift of trust and of readiness to forgive.
O Giver of life, we pray to you also for all those who have died as victims of brutal terrorist attacks. Grant them their eternal reward. May they intercede for the world that is torn apart by conflicts and disagreements.
O Jesus, Prince of Peace, we pray to you for the ones who have been wounded in these acts of inhuman violence: children and young people, old people and innocent people accidentally involved in evil. Heal their bodies and hearts; console them with your strength and, at the same time, take away any hatred and a desire for revenge.
Holy Spirit Consoler, visit the families of the victims of terrorism, families that suffer through no fault of their own. Wrap them in the mantle of your divine mercy. Make them find again in you and in themselves the strength and courage to continue to be brothers and sisters for others, above all for immigrants, giving witness to your love by their lives.
Touch the hearts of terrorists so that they may recognize the evil of their actions and may turn to the way of peace and goodness, of respect for the life and for the dignity of every human being, regardless of religion, origin, wealth or poverty.
O God, Eternal Father, in your mercy hear our prayer which we raise up to You amidst the deafening noise and desperation of the world. We turn to you with great hope, full of trust in your infinite mercy. We ask for the gift of peace and of the elimination from our midst of the sore of terrorism.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.