Bereavement

1.     Blinded by sorrow

Father, Sometimes eyes blinded by the symbols of sorrow cannot see the stars. Even so, there are moments, like this one, when nothing is beyond personal grief.

We come face to face with misery and loneliness in these days since the death of _______. With the strangeness of life and death that takes away a loved, we sometimes feel at a loss with no explanation. This is the mystery of the Providence I have tried to understand and cannot understand.

Your Holy Spirit is with us in sorrow.  You are acquainted with our human tears and broken hearts. We need the comfort you provide because our heart is sore.  The knot in our stomach can make us feel like shutting to door to our heart, help us push and keep it open.

Take away the sense of withdrawal that are sometimes used to dull feelings.   It is not the way toward healing.  Help now, to open wide the pathway to the comfort of your loving spirit. Help us to be unafraid of any depth or height or intensity of overflowing emotion. In your scripture you promise to wipe away all tears from my eyes.

I ask you now to fulfill that promise. Bind up wounded spirit during this troubled time. Thank you for your promise to be here in this time and always, in Jesus name Amen  (227 words)

2.     Lonely Earth Trails

Lord Jesus you have walked earth trails you know the nostalgia of human life and how we cling to it. You have been alone in the wilderness, bless now the members of this family in their loneliness over the loss of their loved one.

To all who are bewildered, home sick, are ready to desert their post please give them new courage may they hear in the portals of their very soul the bugle call announcing the arrival of reinforcements let Holy Spirit shine its light on them.

May the friendship of Jesus of Nazareth be made known to them. May they find a welcome in this company of gods people that surround them now in this time of grief. Will you guide and inspire them? Keep them from the mean and the low and the angry spirited. Point them ever to the uh plans of the fellowship with you add the value of having you as their guide

we ask now father to transform them in their homesickness and new endeavors . Enable them to translate the affection of the heart into a new zest in their lives. Direct our hearts that all of us will be kindly and affectionate one to another, let us abound in love and sympathy. Help us renounce unkind words, checking the hastiness in our judgment. In all things Lord we ask that we be gentle and full of compassion in the world Of confusion and hate. May we walked softly before you and deal gently with one another being able to do so through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen. (266 words)

3.     The Room of Sorrow

Father God, we think of that inner room of a family's sorrow into which only you can truly enter. sympathy cannot bind up the broken heart in time of loss. Only through you can we find the peace that goes beyond understanding. We asked you now for that gracious and healing comfort that Jesus made possible through His sacrifice. And we ask that you help those who walk beside us in this time, in this hour of grief and parting. Let us rededicate ourselves to you in a way that shall bring forth more than a troubled heart due to our loss. You promised joy and peace and we ask for joyful memories and peaceful hearts. In Jesus name who conquered death we make this Intercessory request Amen (128)

 

4.     Heavy Hearts

Lord Jesus, you have been despised and rejected of men, I ask you to be merciful to the disillusioned and for all those whose hearts have been wounded.

There are some for whom skies are dark, whose future is uncertain.  These are your children with nameless griefs weighed down in the bitterness of sorrow, living sorrows, that have no graves and cannot be buried. There are hearts heavy with suspense, who wait in the twilight of an excruciating uncertainty.

You are the one true God who knows our every sin and the chains that hold us back, yet you still love us. Be gracious now to everyone in this time of loss. Let everyone feel the strength and power of your grace that grants us the ability to endure. Seeking Your grace and comfort, we ask all of this the name of your Son, Jesus, Amen

5.     Tested Faith

Father, we pray, that when our faith is tested, we become by patience and the grace afforded us in all your promises, closer to You.  Let us through your Holy Spirit feel Your presence. Jesus, you made it possible, through your sacrifice on the cross for our sins, when you triumphed over death to comfort us in times like these. You raise up all of us who believe in everlasting life letting us feel your presence. We cling to your presence in loss, grief, and sadness or missing loved ones taken from our midst.

Pour your strength and courage into our pain and sorrow. Give us the peace that comes with knowing you are the one true God and on that Day when you come for the second time, we will join loved one and all be together again.  It is that promise we hold onto tight now. In your precious name we pray, Amen  (155)

 

6.     Broken Melodies

Jesus, you are the savior of the world. Provide those gathered here to celebrate the life of ________ comfort as they grieve this loss. May the tokens of loveliness taken from the memories they share be reminders of the good times and struggles they experienced, together, in this life.  We request you grant these friends, family and loved ones the peace in knowing they will someday be reunited.  Life lived to glorify you is a testament to _________ life.   In the sorrow of loss, may all present discover the wonderful comfort you provide through the Holy Spirit that dwells within us, there for us, even in our grief.  

We know, and hold onto Lord, that at last, when the chords of earth are silent, we will be found in heaven. All the broken melodies of our lives will be blended in the harmony and beauty of your glory. By this very hope we are upheld and sustained in this life we live. In the strongest name on earth we pray in Jesus Christ our Lord's name Amen (240 words)

 

 

 

 

Hospital visitation/Assisted Living

7.     Healer of My Infirmities

I confess that in my desperation and my need I have wondered about the Providence of God. Forgive, I pray, this lack of trust in his power an in his love. I acknowledge my unworthiness to ask You for any good gift. Yet, I asked not on my merit but because of the claim purchased for me at the cross.

Jesus you yourself explored all the vast treasures of pain on that cross and you did so to bestow on me grace. You saved me from myself. You took my place. And made a way for me. You are the savior of my soul and now I would know you as the savior of my body. I ask father for your grace has the great physician to heal me of all malady spiritually and physically.

Same prayer, with different middle and end…

Lord Jesus, you are the Lord of Lords the king of Kings. You are still the ruler of this universe from the beginning to the end. You are the great “IAM”, the great architect and creator of this world.

In the beginning, you designed every part of it from the twinkling of the great stars to the molding of the petals of the wayside Flowers. You created The coloring of the heavens to the tent of the butterfly’s wings, even to the creation of my ancestors Adam & Eve.  You created us each one and now dwell in us through the temple of your Holy Spirit. You indwell us all, yet some do not recognize or acknowledge your sovereignty over all.. Hear me as I pray for __________, who knows and trusts you even in the illness that I pray be released from its hold on this physical body.  I pray for your healing touch as the great physician who heals in sickness and in health. May your will be done and your kingdom glorified, as Jesus taught to pray, Amen

8.     Your Approval is Peace of Mind

Forgive me O God for getting so caught up in my own importance, that there are times I am so anxious in all I say and do, I long for the approval of other people, forgetting that it is Your approval and Yours alone that brings me peace of mind and clear conscience. Make me aware of the record You are writing; the record that one day will be read by the Judge of all the universe.  Remind me to strive for personal integrity based upon Your presence in my life rather than on own ego centered self.  I pray for Your grace and Your help to do better and be better in making decisions that impact not just my life but the lives of those I love and who love me.  I pray for Your strength and guidance and I pray in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

9.     Melt the Coldness of Our Hearts

Lord Jesus, in the hush of this moment we pray that Your tender Spirit may steal into our hearts and reveal to us how near and how dear You are to us.  There are times when You are not real to us and we know why.  It is not because You have withdrawn from us, but because we have wandered away from You; not because You are not speaking, but because we are not listening; not because Your love for us has cooled, but because we have fallen in love with things instead of persons. 

O Lord, melt the coldness of our hearts that we may again, fall in love with You who did and still do love us.  In Jesus Name Amen

 

 

 

10.  No Hope Apart from You

Lord Jesus, we know of no better way to begin another day than by rededicating our lives to You, resolving to trust You and to obey You and to do our very best to serve You by serving our fellow man.  In these days that call for understanding, for mercy, for the salvation of men’s souls and the healing of their bodies, may we have Your Spirit that we may work to that end, for You are the Savior of the world, and we have no hope apart from You.  Hear our prayer for Your mercy’s sake…Amen

11.  For our Problems beyond Measure

Our Father, we stand to join our hearts in prayer in our acknowledgement of our great need of Your guidance.  We know that by ourselves we are not enough for these days or for the problems beyond the measure of our best wisdom.  We are finding out we need more than the government, more than ourselves, we need You.  Then and only then shall we achieve the true measure of what we seek.  Hear our prayer, O God, and grant unto us Your guidance to everlasting peace, we humbly ask in Jesus Name Amen.

 

12.  Release from Bewilderment

Our Eternal Father, whose kindness loves and whose patience is infinite, hear us again as we pray, not because of what we say but because of the deep need that drives us to You.  We rest in the thought that Your love knows no change, else it would not love us long.  We are burdened by things that do not matter, bewildered by problems of own creation. You have made us heirs of a great heritage and trustees of priceless things, yet we forget the price that was paid by Your Son Jesus for this heritage and need only to acknowledge our short comings and accept the gift of your Grace. Make us strong, O God, in conviction, with insight for our times and courage for our testing. Give us the strength that can only come from You to endure and bring our lives in tune with what You want for us not what we want for ourselves.   Though Jesus Christ our Lord Amen

 

Blessings

 

Lord Jesus, we come to You for an evening blessing, to seal within our hearts the inspirations and memories of this day.  We ask You for the blessing of quietness for every troubled heart, rest for every weary soul, new faith and courage for all who have faced exhausting tasks this day.  We would rest now in You and find in this evening hour Your stillness and Your peace to bring us into quiet harmony with Your will.  Watch over us through the hours of darkness. Refresh us in spirit as well as in body as we sleep.  Help us face the tasks of tomorrow with steady faith and without fear, conscious of Your presence and Your guidance, knowing that we belong to you.  In Jesus Name Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dedication/Christening

Matthew 19:13-14

13Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them. 14 Jesus said, let the little children come to me comma and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.

Mark 10:13-15

13People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this he was indignant. 14He said to them, let the little children come to me and do not hinder them for the Kingdom of God belongs to his such as these. 15Truly I tell you anyone who will not receive the Kingdom Of God like a little child will never enter it.

 It is also found in Luke 18:16

Blessing for Children

Blessing children is at the request of parents.  It is a way for them to say, they will raise this child up in a way that is in alignment with God's word. Raising up a child is another way of saying, “we will parent this child using God's word as a guide.

This commitment is one the family gathers, along with friends, and possibly a godparent or godparents to observe.  Taking part in this christening, or dedication, or blessing, being offered on behalf of this child, remind those present that God is the giver of life and asks for obedience from all who surrender to his sovereignty. 

Jesus paid the price for us with his sacrifice on the cross and resurrection from the tomb where he was placed after dying for our sins. He arose from the dead and commissioned the disciples to preach the gospel in all the world. He asked them to bless others.

To offer the blessing, you as the officiant will ask everyone to join you around this child. Typically, this blessing is offered when the child is an infant. It is not limited to infants and can be administered at any age. There is another anointing/blessing you and the parents may decide is more fitting for a child who is past being an infant.

Twelve years of age for example is another age associated with the next stage of childhood.

It is appropriate to begin by addressing our Heavenly Father.

Father, Father God, all Gracious Heavenly Father, are all appropriate. As are all other names of God in the Bible. God is our sovereign Lord and Savior. ABBA is another name that may be used as are Yahweh, Yeshua. or Jesus Christ.

This beginning can be discussed with the parents as they enter this commitment. By having this pre-blessing conversation, you are allowing the parents to become an interictal part of the ceremony. This would take place with the parents before the date when the blessing is offered. This is a celebration, a joyful time.

Make a statement: “this blessing is being given by the authority of Jesus Christ, His Father, and the Holy Spirit, our comforter. 

Name the parents, ask them for the given name of this child.

An example would be, “Lisa and Robert as parents, what name do you give this child?

Repeat it back for all to hear, “This child’s given name is ___________”

State the following, “This child presented this day, the ___ of ____ in the year ____ is hereby, christened in the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit. (their name) your name was written in the book of life before you were conceived and may you grow up knowing your parents committed to raising you being guided by the Sovereign God of the Universe, Creator of all things. Your parents and these gathered friends and family all join in celebrating your special day of dedication in the to name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Let us pray, “Dear God in Heaven, You surround us, You hold us in the palm of your hand.  You bless all by breathing into us the life you gave us in the beginning.  May we all honor you and surrender to your authority as we witness the presentation of this child to you on this blessed occasion.  As___________ continues to grow give them always the desire to seek your Word. Encouragement is found in Your everlasting love.  Let them as they grow, become seekers after your commandments so they love others like they are loved by all present here today.

Let us all join in praying the prayer offered in your Holy Book, Our Father who art in heaven…

By the authority of Jesus Christ, I hereby declare this celebration be sealed in hearts.

Parent Prayer

Our ever-loving Father, help me to be a better parent. Teach me to understand my children, to listen patiently to what they say, and to answer their questions wisely. May I be ever conscious that they are not their actions—that any faults or mistakes lie not with them, but with their limited awareness.

 

May I be ever mindful that my children are children and not expect them to act and react as adults.

Let me not rob them of the opportunity to do what they can for themselves.  Give me the wisdom to teach them how to make their own decisions and suffer their own mistakes.  May I never judge their worth by their actions or by comparisons with others.  Give me the awareness to grant their reasonable requests and the courage to deny requests that would do them harm. I pray this in Jesus name, Amen


Last modified: Tuesday, May 5, 2020, 11:00 AM