A Concord Pastor Comments: Pause for Prayer: FRIDAY 5/1

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We all ask others to pray for us
and promise in return to remember
those who ask us to pray for them...

I'll be praying today for folks who've asked me
to lift up their names to the Lord
- and I'm sure you'll be doing the same...

I'll be praying for many people, for many reasons,
and I take comfort in knowing
that the Lord knows all our needs
even before we speak them...

Like you, I'll pray for family and friends
and for neighbors and parishioners
who've asked for prayers...

And like you, I'll pray for people I've never met,
for whom others have asked me to pray...

For some we'll pray for help, hope and healing...
for others we'll intercede for patience, forgiveness and reconciliation,
for many we'll ask for guidance, counsel and understanding...
for others we'll pray for relief, comfort and consolation...
and for all we'll ask for serenity, harmony and peace...

We'll pray for the healing of the sick,
for the consolation of the dying
and for those who care for them, day by day...

We'll pray for those who need work
and we'll pray for those who need rest...

We'll pray for those who are burdened
with anxiety, worry and fear...

We'll pray for those in prison,
for freedom in their minds and hearts...

We'll pray for children waiting to be born
and for the mothers who carry them;
we'll pray for children waiting adoption
and for the families who'll receive them...

We'll pray for an end to violence
in peoples' homes, in their streets
and between nations...

We'll pray for the people of Nepal
and for the people of Baltimore
and for Christians whose lives, homes and churches
are threatened by death and destruction...

We'll pray for the healing of the abused and betrayed,
and for the recovery of the addicted...

We'll pray for the victory of justice
and we'll pray for a harvest of peace...

We'll pray for those who serve and protect us:
for those in harm's way
at home and 'round the world...

We'll pray, as Jesus taught us,
for our enemies
and for those who persecute us...

We'll pray for the many needs
of so very many people
with confidence that God hears our every prayer...

And we'll pray with grateful hearts for those today
who will find peace, healing, happiness and joy...

I'll join you in your prayers today
and I ask you
to remember me in yours...