A Prayer for the Anxious.

 O dear Heavenly Father, we come to you on bended knee with aching heart and quivering limbs to ask for your comfort. The worries and uncertainties that come with this broken world could easily overwhelm us if we did not know that you, O Heavenly Father, know everything, and everything has to go through your approval. You know the outcome of every day, and not only the outcome of every day, but also the outcome of every one of your children. You alone know the future, and in that we take great comfort, because if you know and approve of what is to come, then we can know our worries are in vain, for we have a loving Father that is standing by and over us, and he knows the count of the very hairs on our head. Therefore teach us, O Lord, that we take no thought for tomorrow, but that we rest in your care today, and this very moment. We can also take great comfort in knowing that tomorrow you will be there as well, for you are not only the God of yesterday and today, you are also the God of tomorrow, your all knowing and all gracious love knows no boundaries nor time. Are we not more than the lilies of the field whom you care for? Are we not more than the fowls of the air? Teach us to be like them in contentment and without worry under your watch and care. 

Teach us also to bring our every worry and concern to you, O Father, in prayer and supplication with thankfulness, knowing that you will hear our every word, spoken and unspoken, and our every burden and ache of heart. Teach us that you will deliver us from evil and preserve us for your heavenly kingdom, to you be glory for ever and ever. Teach us also to be still and know that you are Lord. 

And may your peace which passeth all understanding keep our hearts and minds through your only Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Prayer for Rain.

 Our dear Father in heaven, we come to you in this time of great dryness to ask for your blessing upon the land. Bless this parched and dry ground with rain and dew from the heavens that the earth may bring forth her fruit and thereby sustain both man and animal. We look to the heavens everyday, but the heavens seem locked. The grass and the crops shrivel more everyday, the dugouts and bodies of water dry up, the scorching sun and the hot dry winds wring out even more precious moisture from this stressed land. 

As we look upon all this we cannot help but begin to think, Are you sending this state of dryness upon the land, O Lord, so that we can compare it to the state of our heart? Is a look upon this dry and parched land a look inside our own heart?

O Father, when you withhold rain from the heavens but for a little while, we groan and protest, and feel unfairly treated, but how many times do we withhold praise from you, because we think we have no time to praise or worship in our busy lives. The dead cannot praise or worship or give you thanks, they are silent. It is our turn now. We who are alive, to praise you and declare your faithfulness, and in that, dear Father we fall far short. 

But we admit our shortcomings and daily failings, treat us not as we deserve, or we should shrivel up and blow away in the lightest breeze, but bless us instead with blessings from above. And if it is not in your divine will to send us rain, send us the wisdom, courage, and hope to face whatever lies ahead and let not go of our outstretched hand, guide us and lead us, for we know that no matter how bleak a situation looks you will safely lead us through, and provide such an outcome that we will say, O why did we doubt, It all worked out so much better than we could have hoped for. Strengthen our faith, O Father, grant us grace as we go forward with you as our hope and guide, our Saviour and Redeemer. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.