Pray for Families (The faith to endure)

Dearest Prayer Warriors,

When times are particularly challenging, and difficulties in the family seem to be chronic, and your knees are worn out from all your prayers, do you ever question whether or not God is listening, even for a moment?

LORD, hear my prayer; let my cry come to you.  Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress.  Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly. Psalm 102:2-3

Don’t ever despair, as the Lord does hear and always has a masterful plan, usually well beyond our comprehension!  Perhaps the Lord takes his time in responding so that one’s own faith might be increased?

I wrote a short prayer of petition just for such times. 

Lord, when I am fraught with worry, replace it with your peace.

When I feel hopeless in correcting a situation, remind me of your promises.

When I have exhausted my tears, add them to the ocean of your mercy.

When I become speechless in prayer, hear the cries of my heart.

When I falter in my faith and my hope diminishes, renew me with your grace.

Jesus I trust in You!

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Share a prayer of hope.  Pass it on.  

Pray for Marriages (Magnificence)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

Many would say that nothing is more beautiful than seeing a couple still in love after decades of marriage.  I say nothing is more magnificent than seeing a married couple love, toil, and persevere through years filled with hills and valleys because they hope and trust in the Lord and long to do His will.  What a powerful witness!

Make known to me your ways, LORD; teach me your paths. Guide me by your fidelity and teach me, for you are God my savior, for you I wait all the day long.  Psalm 25:4-4

Send up a sweet prayer for marriages, to give rest to the weary, make smooth their path, and fortify their hope.  Lord, be generous with your grace!

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Prayer cushions the walk. Pass it on!  

Pray for Families (Forgetting Me)

Greetings Prayer Angels,

The beauty of having a family is that it draws us out of self-centeredness, whether we like it or not.  The demands of babies are difficult to ignore!  The sweet faces of toddlers tug at your heart, while the grimy hands of preschoolers tug at your clothes.  It continues on as children enter school and new demands surface.  It’s all part of God’s marvelous plan for our sanctity. 

Perhaps it’s when we acquiesce and accept that pure joy comes from the giving of our total selves to our family, that grace overflows.    A new understanding of what F-A-M-I-L-Y really means flowers in our hearts.

Forget

About

Me

I

Love

You

May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we have for you, so as to strengthen your hearts, to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones. Amen. 1 Thes 3:12-13

Pray for each member of your family, that with each passing day it becomes easier for them to forget about “me” and more intoxicatingly joyful to love “you”.  

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Share the love. Pass it on! 

Pray for Marriages (Be a revolutionary!)

Greetings Prayer Warriors,

Sometimes it’s just good to remember (or learn) the basics.   Do you know the 4 essential elements of Christian marriage?*

(1) Unity: Marriage is a covenant that by its very nature brings about bodily, intellectual, and spiritual union between a man and a woman

(2) Indissolubility: Marriage lasts "until death do us part"

(3) Openness to offspring: Every marriage must be open to children

(4) Commitment to the spouse's welfare

Free, total, fruitful, faithful.

And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful.  Colossians 3:14-15

Let us pray for all married couples.

• Lord, as you make them one in a sacramental marriage, keep them unified with an abundance of your grace.
• Lord, make couples know that you are with them, especially in the trials of their marriage.  As they overcome adversity, help them grow in love.
• Lord, may couples trust your plan.  May all come to see children as the blessed gift that they are.  May children be a constant reminder of the unconditional love that God has for us.
• Lord, may we not focus on our own selfish desires and needs, but see to the welfare of our spouse, both emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually. Help each spouse go above and beyond expectations, to glorify You. 

Today, there are those who say that marriage is out of fashion. Is it out of fashion? In a culture of relativism and the ephemeral, many preach the importance of ‘enjoying’ the moment. They say that it is not worth making a life-long commitment, making a definitive decision, ‘for ever’, because we do not know what tomorrow will bring. I ask you, instead, to be revolutionaries, I ask you to swim against the tide; yes, I am asking you to rebel against this culture that sees everything as temporary and that ultimately believes you are incapable of responsibility, that believes you are incapable of true love. I have confidence in you and I pray for you. Have the courage ‘to swim against the tide’. And also have the courage to be happy.”  Pope Francis

Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet

Be a revolutionary.  Pass it on!  

* CCC 1625-8