Prayer of the day - First prayer

MONDAY

Morning:       Guard my heart with your peace.

 O God, so help me today that nothing may make me lose my serenity.

            So help me-

• that nothing may make me lose my temper, that I may be proof against the petty pinpricks and the big blows of life.
• that nothing may make me lose my patience either with things or with people.
• that I may not get flustered or excited but that I may take things steadily and just as they come.
• to work and do things when they ought to be done, and as they ought to be done, so there will be no last minute rush today.
• that nothing may make me take offence or differ in bitterness with anyone today.

Today, O God, guard my heart with your peace and equip my life with your strength.

      This I ask for your love’s sake.  Amen.

Evening:      Forgive missed opportunities.

 O Eternal God, forgive me for all today’s mistakes.

      When I look back, I think of-

• the things I would do much better, if I had the chance to do them again.
• the people to whom I would be much kinder and much more courteous, if I could meet them again.
• the things that I wish I had not done, and the words that I wish I had not spoken.
• the things I failed to do, the opportunities which may never come again.
• the fine impulses which I would turn into action if I had today again.

O God, I confess my faults and plead for your forgiveness.  May the missed opportunities of today not dwell on my mind, but with your pardon give me peace and sleep tonight and motivation for tomorrow.

O God; give me strength and grace in the days to come to live out my best intentions through the power and the presence of my Lord and Saviour Jesus.  Amen.

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TUESDAY

 Morning:   Give strength and wisdom for this day.

 O Lord my God, give me strength and wisdom to live this day as I ought.

        Give me strength-

• to do every task which I need to do,
• to shoulder every responsibility which is given to me,
• to overcome every selfish or greedy thought.

Give me wisdom-

• to know when to speak and when to keep silent.
• to know when to speak my mind, and when to hold my peace.
• to know when to act, and when to refrain from action.

So bring me to the end of this day grateful for your help and contented that I have walked with Jesus.  This I ask through his name.  Amen.

Evening: Bless my friends tonight.

 O God, bless my friends and my loved ones tonight.

• Bless those whose lives are interwoven with mine, and without whom life could never be the same.
• Bless those to whom I owe my comfort, and without whom life would be very lonely.
• Bless the one to whom I have given my heart to keep, and who has given me his/her heart to keep.  Keep us for every loyal, for ever loving and for ever true to each other.
• Bless my absent friends and loved ones, from whom for sometime I am separated.  Guard them, guide them protect them and grant that we may soon meet again.

Lord, I know that those for whom I am praying are also praying for me.  Help me just now to feel very near to them.

            Lord, help me to feel near to those whom I have loved and lost awhile, those who have died and gone before me to your nearer presence.

      Hear this my prayer for your love’s sake.  Amen.

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 WEDNESDAY

  Morning:   May your presence carry me through the day.

 O God, I know you are always with me but this morning I come consciously quiet and still in your presence.  May I take from this morning a powerful serenity that will last me through the rough or the smooth of this day’s life.

            I have come-

• to find wisdom, so that today I may not make any foolish mistakes.
• to find peace, so that no uncertainty may worry me and no aggravation upset me.
• to find love, so that all through today nothing may make me bitter or unforgiving or unkind.
• to begin the day with you, so that I may continue it with you and end it with you, so that every moment is lived conscious of your presence.

Hear this my morning prayer for Jesus’ sake.  Amen.

Evening:       For those who fear the night.

 O Heavenly Father, as I lie down to rest tonight, I pray for all those who do not like the night;

• Bless little children who are afraid of the dark and frightening dreams.
• Bless those in illness and in pain, for whom the night hours are very slow and long.
• Bless those who are lonely, and who in the stillness of the night feel their loneliness all the more.
• Bless those who are sad, and who in the night time miss someone who is gone from them more than at any other time.
• Bless those who are away from home in hospitals, prison, on journeys or in distant places.
• Bless those who are worried, whose anxieties are exaggerated at night and whose thoughts will not let them sleep.

O God, give me tonight a grateful heart for all your gifts; a contrite heart for all my sins; a heart at peace, because it rests in you, through Jesus Christ my Lord.  Amen.

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THURSDAY

Morning:       Lord, give grace to care for those nearest.

 O God, my Father, I am ashamed when I remember how often I hurt most of all those whom I ought to cherish most.

            O God and Father, forgive me that I sometimes treat my nearest and dearest in a way in which I would never dare to behave towards strangers.

            Help me that it may not be like that today.  Take from me-

• the carelessness, the selfishness and the untidiness, which makes the work of others harder than it ought to be.
• the casualness that takes for granted much care and help for which I should say thank you.
• the lack of sensitivity which makes me hurt the feelings of others, and not even realise that I am doing so.
• the habits of unkind criticism, nagging faultfinding, temper and irritability which wreck the peace of any home.
• the disobedience which brings anxiety and the disloyalty which brings sorrow to those who love me.

Please grant that all through today I may so speak and so act that I will bring nothing but happiness to those whose love is my privilege, and whose friendship is my job; through Jesus Christ my Lord and Master.  Amen.

Evening:       Forgive my wrong thoughts and actions.

 O God, forgive me for thinking any wrong thoughts or taking any wrong actions today.  Forgive me-

• for speaking words which should never soil my lips or hurt others.
• for allowing my eyes to linger on things at which I should not have looked
• for allowing bad thoughts to enter my mind because I did not dwell on what is good.
• for needlessly giving temptation a chance to attack me.
• for all things for which I am sorry now.

Grant me, before I sleep, the sense of being forgiven and the kiss of pardon and of peace.  This I ask for your love’s sake.  Amen.

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FRIDAY

 Morning:       Lord, make me easy to live with

 My Father in heaven, you have created every person for fellowship with others, grant to me all through this day the gifts which will make me easy to live with.

            Give me-

• courtesy, that I may live every moment as if I was living in the presence of a king.
• tolerance, that I may not be quick to condemn what I do not like and what I do not understand.
• considerateness, that I may think of the feelings of others even more than of my own.
• acceptance that I may learn to accept wish grace the things that I cannot change because of my limited powers.
• kindliness, that I may miss no opportunity to help, to cheer, to comfort and to encourage another.
• honesty, that everything I do may be the best whether there is anyone to see it or not.

May I live this day so that the world may be a happier place because I passed through it as a disciple of Jesus Christ my Lord.  Amen.

Evening:       Thanks for new things and unchanging things.

 O God, I thank you for the new things which I have discovered today.

            I thank you-

• for news and new inventions I have read about.
• for information I have gained and places I have seen through the television.
• for any new person I have met today and added to my experience of life.
• for new friends with shared interests and stimulating conversation.
• for new understanding of people whom I did not like.

But O God, amidst the fascination for change and what’s new in the world, I thank you for the reliability of the unchanging.

      I thank you-

• for the faithfulness of long-time friends.
• for the consistency of truth that has been tried and tested.
• for Jesus who is the same, yesterday, today and forever, and for his constant love.

Hear this my evening prayer of thanks in the name of Jesus Christ my Lord.  Amen.