2016-01-03-A Prayers

“Give us this day our daily bread.”

In the Name of the Father and of (+) the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

O Lord, You give daily bread to all – faithful and wicked alike – even without our prayer. Yet, we are right to pray for our daily bread, that we might learn that it comes from You as the giver of all good things and so receive it with thanksgiving. To that end, lend your fatherly ear to my petitions:

* For the ill, suffering, injured: O Lord, You promise that daily bread includes all our very life and health. Hear my prayer for those who are ill, suffering, or injured, especially Dorothy Bratton, Phil Hansen, Jill Robinson, and Kim Dorwaldt, that they may, by Your grace, be given a portion of new health, or – if it be Your will – be given faith to bear their current affliction.

* For the anxious, lonely: O God, You promise that daily bread includes all that we need to support this body and life, including defense from every evil.  Hear my prayer on behalf of Roxanna, Joe, Dale, and Gary; grant them the trust that You provide for all of life’s cares and – as part of our daily bread – see us through all of life’s trials.  Give Roxanna, Joe, Dale, and Gary the eyes of faith to see Your many blessings, daily given and renewed, even in moments of great anticipation.

* For the mourning: O Lord, as You give, so You take away. Hear my prayer on behalf of all who mourn the death of a loved ones. Comfort them with the promise that, though You have taken from them a loved one, so You continue to provide for them through Your bountiful goodness. Grant the faith which clings to the Truth that not only give us all temporal blessings, but – grace beyond grace – gave Your only begotten Son to die our death upon the cross, that we might receive – not merely daily bread – but also the eternal inheritance of heaven.

* For the rejoicing: O Lord, You give us daily bread that is beyond measure or understanding.  Hear my prayer of thanksgiving on behalf of all who today rejoice. Grant them thankful hearts that sees this blessing for what it truly is – a gift of daily bread that comes from Your hand, even as You freely give to satisfy the desire of every living thing.
Hear my petitions, O Heavenly Father, for the sake of Your Son, who has promised us that all good things come from your fatherly hand and, thus, has taught us to pray, “Our Father, who art in heaven…”