Prayers for Mother's Day 2009

Photo by Kincaid


Many mothers will be celebrated by their families today in special ways. There will be flowers and sweets, phone calls from children too far away for a visit, cards and gifts, breakfast in bed or brunch or dinner at a nice restaurant. In many families, Mother's Day should be a monthly or weekly celebration - an annual observance doesn't do many women justice! Keep a place in your prayer this day for all the mothers who will rejoice with their families this weekend...


Some women will spend this Mother's Day in anticipation of the birth of a child they're carrying - perhaps their first child - a child whose ultrasound image has already won the hearts of mom and dad. Other expectant mothers are making their way through the long process of adoption - or perhaps the arrival of their adopted love is just around the corner! Keep a place in your prayer this Mother's Day for those who are expecting the arrival of a child - and pray that both mother and child will be healthy...


I lost my mother in October of 1994. I love her and miss her but I can't say that Mother's Day is an especially difficult day for me. Harder to bear than the second Sunday in May each year are the weeks of advertising that precede and the thought that keeps crossing my mind, "What would I get my mother for Mother's Day this year if..." Open a place in your heart to pray for those who miss the wonderful mothers God gave them...


My heart goes out to women who want very much to be mothers but who, for any number of reasons, are unable to bear a child... I know this day can be difficult for them, even as they celebrate their own mothers with love and devotion. Let's keep a place in our prayer for women who long for a child with their heart and soul...


Part of my ministry is to serve the bereaved... Just yesterday morning I celebrated the funeral of a wonderful woman, a fine mother, a woman of faith as great as it was simple, as beautiful as it was profound. Her family grieved and prayed for her this morning, the day before Mother's Day. Let's keep a place in our prayer this weekend for those whose grief over losing their mother is fresh in their minds and hearts...


We live in world where children are born to families desperate to care for them. We live in a world where some nations limit the number of children a couple may legally have. We live in a world where millions of children are hungry this Mother's Day. And we live in a world where many champion the "right" to end the life of a child already conceived. For the mothers of all these children, and their children, let us keep a place in our prayer this weekend...


Some children have mothers who failed to care for them. These sons and daughters understand deeply the lyrics of that old song, "Sometimes I feel like a motherless child..." For those in pain this day over mothers who left their children wanting, let us keep a place of prayer in our hearts...


Some mothers today will be forgotten by their children: no visit, no card, no call, no candy or flowers. Some mothers this day don't know where a son or daughter has gone or what has become of them. A mother's heart aches on this day for the child of her womb who has forgotten her or who has disappeared. Pray with me on this Mother's Day for women who wait for a call that will not come...


Many mothers today will remember a child who has died. A parent's grief for a child lost is unfathomable - and a mother's grief perhaps even deeper. We Christians believe that one day we shall see again and enjoy the love of those who have gone before us. Keep a place in your heart for mothers to be consoled by such faith and pray that they trust that the Lord will keep his word...


Some mothers today will not know or recognize their children when they come to visit. Time has robbed them of their memory of even those they love the most. Keep a place in your prayer today for mothers who may know their children in their heart of hearts but be unable to remember or speak their names. And pray for those sons and daughters who tell their mothers of their love, hoping that a mother's heart will hear what her mind no longer holds...


This Mother's Day, let's turn our hearts to Mary, the Mother of God, the Mother of Jesus and all of us, his sisters and brothers. With a mother's care she raised the Christ child and lived the joy and the grief that only a mother can know. Whatever our spirits on this Mother's Day weekend, the Mother of Jesus embraces us all, so let us pray...

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you.
Blessed are you among women
and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.

Small roses: photo by Nirsha

-ConcordPastor