Prayer For Compassion
Father,
We praise You for the stories that You place in front of us. The ones that make us unconformable and call us to action. Thank You for all those who answer calls to physically go to those far corners of the world to feed the hungry. Keep them physically safe as they travel the globe on Your behalf. For those of us who feel the stir to help around the world and in our own communities, grant us the resolve to remain obedient to Your leading. Bless all those who go hungry in this world, and show us what our part is to aid in filling their stomachs with food and their hearts with Christ's love.
Thank You for the blessings that we count in our lives, and show us how to extend our hands and hearts to those who need Your love.There are so many souls that starve and lack for clean water and a place to call home. We lift them up to You in a special way today, and pray that those who feel the compassionate call to help answer.
Whether through prayer, finances, or physical presence, show us where our place to extend Your love is. Soften our hearts to those who suffer, and embolden us to share the Gospel where hurt and suffering are prevalent. There are so many big things, little things, daily things, that we can do. Help us to operate in Your love daily, so we don't miss an opportunity for one.
In Jesus' Name,
Amen.
Creator God, we pray:
May we who are far from the ones we love be reminded to find ways to be the loving embrace of God for our neighbour.
May the restrictions we face remind us of the daily threats to human dignity, life and basic safety faced by so many people around the world.
May we who are healthy remember people without access to basic health care.
May we who are limiting our travel remember those who have no safe place to go.
May we who have a social safety net remember our sisters and brothers in the Global South whose hardships will only increase.
May our fear for our elders' lives move us to love and cherish each person we encounter every day.
In the face of fear, let us choose love, peace and hope.
Amen.
Father, I pray that you would fill our family with these qualities: compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness, and love. Let Christ's peace rule in our home, and help our family to truly be united in the Spirit.
Oh God, I wish from now on
to be the first to become conscious
of all that the world loves, pursues, and suffers;
I want to be the first to seek,
to sympathize and to suffer;
the first to unfold and sacrifice myself,
to become more widely human
and more nobly of the earth
than of any of the world's servants.
Spirit of Wisdom,
may we bear your love for humanity
by bringing good news to the poor.
Acting according to your will,
we will come to know your reign,
where all will be seated at your heavenly banquet.
Let us bring food to the hungry,
healing to the violated,
and presence to the lonely.
Teach us to shines like the stars
in our relationship with God,
with our neighbor,
and with all of creation.
Lead us in promoting peace and integrity
through our everyday challenges.
May your comforting embrace bring us compassion for others.
Lord, thank you for all you do for me. Thank you for your provisions in my life. You have given me so much that in some ways I feel spoiled by you. I feel comforted and well cared for by you. I cannot imagine my life in any other way. You have blessed me beyond what I could have imagined, in spite of me not deserving all these blessings. I thank you for that.
That is why I am on my knees before you today. Sometimes I feel like I take my privilege for granted, and I know that I need to do more for those that don't have what I have in my life. I know there are those that don't have a roof over their heads. I know that there are those seeking out jobs and live in fear of losing everything. There are poor and disabled. There are lonely people and desperate people that are all in need of my compassion.
Yet sometimes I forget about them. Lord, I come before you today to ask you for a reminder that I cannot just dismiss the poor and downtrodden of the world. You ask us to care for our fellow man. You ask that we care for widows and orphans. You tell us throughout Your Word about compassion and that there are those in such great need of our help that we should not ignore them. And yet I feel blind at times. I get so wrapped up in my own life that those people become easy to dismissalmost invisible.
So Lord, please open my eyes. Please let me see those around me that are in need of my compassion. Compel me to listen to them, to hear their needs. Give me the heart to be interested in their troubles and provide for me the means to help them. I want to be compassionate. I want to be like you that had so much compassion for the world that you sacrificed your Son on a cross for us. I want to have that kind of heart for the world that I will do all I can to be a voice for the oppressed, a giver to the poor, and encouragement for the disabled.
And Lord, let me be the voice of reason to those around me, calling on them to show their compassion, too. Let me be an example of You to them. Let me be the light that they see so that You come through. When we see someone in need, lay that person on my heart. Open the hearts of those around me to create a better world by providing for those that cannot care for themselves.
Lord, I desire so much to be compassionate. I want to be aware of those in need. I want to have the means to help. Let me give to those who are not as privileged as I am. Give me the confidence in my actions so that I can give back. Let me be open to my imagination so that the creativity I may need can flow easily and not be suppressed by doubt. Let me be what others need, Lord. This is all I ask. Use me as a vessel of compassion to a world in need.
In your Holy Name, Amen.
Loving God,
with a handful of flour and a drop of oil
the widow of Zarephath fed the prophet Elijah
before her child and herself.
God, teach us the joy of hospitality
which welcomes friend and stranger,
neighbour and enemy,
and so finds You feasting among us.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Merciful God of compassion and justice,
have mercy on us as we confess our sin.
We are not the stewards Christ calls us to be.
Riches possess us while others go hungry.
We mismanage creation with our pollution and strife
to obtain ever more than we already have.
We abuse your provision for us by our selfish desires.
Help us hear again Christ's call to be faithful,
and through him forgive us
as we repent of our sin and turn from it
Lord, hear our prayer.