October Prayer

Father, we raise our prayers to you for our human family. May your love and grace abound in our homes in whatever form those homes may take.

We ask that you give all a place to live where there is love, affection, nurturing, the sharing of burdens, and security. Keep away bitterness, anger, strife, and, above all, violence and abuse.

Heal the pain of broken relationships and betrayal of trust. Overcome our transgressions with the spirit of forgiveness and the courage of true repentance. Fill our lives together with faith, virtue, knowledge, and patience. May our families be a model of Christ’s love for all of us.

We pray especially for the children who are living without a caring and loving family and struggling with uncertain futures and fear of what lies ahead. Show us ways to be a resource to this ever-increasing need all around us.

Give the special needs of single parents the added strength and power of your presence.

Guide us to those who are alone and desperate. Do not let us be so preoccupied with our purposes, that we fail to share ourselves with those longing for a caring moment with a new friend or a neglected relationship.

Through the abundance of your love given us in Jesus Christ, let His light shine through us into a world living with too much darkness.

May we be a source of new hope, encouragement, and genuine love in all our encounters with the people who you bring into our lives, or to whom you lead us.

It is in Jesus’ Holy Name we make this prayer. Amen.

Contributed by Jim Witherow.