Around midnight, every night, I pray. I pray for my wife, I pray for my son, I pray for my friends and colleagues (which blessedly are one and the same), and for the clients we serve.

Then I think about my friends who are suffering. Some of them are battling cancers and other ailments so severe or rare that they are not covered in the medical literature. Some have loved ones who are facing hopeless prognoses, and deteriorate day by day in front of the eyes of my friends. Some are facing the heartaches of betrayal and rejection. Some feel they are so far from the Lord that they can’t get back, hough they desperately want to do so.

What can I do? I can pray. So I think of what I know of their situation and try to put myself in their place. I pick out a picture on my cell phone of a beautiful scene for encouragement. I have written of these things before.

I write a prayer to go with the picture that expresses what I discern to be the need of the moment. I do not compose these prayers to share in the Word of Grace messages. They are prayers which Jesus cautioned were best prayed in privacy (Matt 6:6).

I did put some in a message a few weeks back and the responses were so heartfelt and authentic that I realized in a deeper way that we all “are standin’ in the need of prayer” as the old spiritual puts it.

A consistent theme in these prayers is a plea to the Lord to get my friends through the night, the day, the procedure, the court appointment, or whatever wearies or worries them. I apologize that I have not found a convenient way to pass on the pictures that accompany the prayers in an email.

It is the hope and prayer of my heart that these prayers will encourage you to share your burdens with Christ our intercessor.

PRAYER FOR A FRIEND WEARY WITH THE JOURNEY

Lord,

There is a way forward. I can discern it faintly as night comes on. But the peaks and valleys are exhausting. The desire to stop and sleep is overwhelming. How can this journey have meaning if I am too tired to perceive that meaning?

You have promised to lift and carry me and you have promised to be my rest. You can only do these things if I go limp in your arms and let you have your way. That is the hardest thing of all for me to do, but you can show me how to let go. Please? Amen.

 

PRAYER OF THANKS INSPIRED BY A BLUE BOWL OF PEACHES

“I will tell about the Lord’s kindness and praise Him for everything He has done. I will praise the Lord for the many good things He has given us.” – Isaiah 63:7

Dear Lord,

There are moments that make us glad to be alive. The peaches will be eaten. The bowl will be washed. But the afternoon sunlight highlighting the red and soft yellow skin and the bright blue bowl will swirl gently in our memory. They call such a scene a “Still Life,” as if life could ever be still. The heart collects these moments — a snatch of song, remembered lines, touches, a flash of grin, happy tears, echoes of laughter, etc — as credits against the withdrawals made by pain and fear when they try to run the bank of our soul.

In your mercy, you say, “Remember, think, you aren’t making this up. I’ve been with you before, and I am with you now, and I will be with you right through this trial. I make thoughts and memories “warm” with my presence because I know there will be times, even in summer, when you will be chilled in body, if not in soul. I love you.” Thanks, Lord. Amen.

PRAYER WHEN THE CYCLES OF CHEMOTHERAPY CONTINUE ON AND ON

“We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.”— Proverbs 16:9

Jesus, Lord of my journey,

Pace me. Slow my anxious mind, and help me remember to give your will and way time to play out. The road seems so long and monotonous, and the stretch we are passing through is so hot and dry. I can see no change ahead and I wonder what, and if, and when?

But you are my God. I have no alternative route to propose and you have brought me through so far. Forgive my impatience, please, and my darker doubts and frustrations.

I am getting this — I can’t think my way out or push on through or fix it which I have always done before. I am learning to walk in step with you and depend upon you for everything. Thanks for loving me enough to slow down and keep pace with me while I learn to keep pace with you. Please help me to accept this step-by-step life. Thanks. Amen.

 

PRAYER OF GRATITUDE FOR A FIELD OF WILDFLOWERS ON A SUMMER DAY

sun melts down the sky

dripping colors in the field

delighting my heart

 

i do not pass by

but stop to take this all in–

the pause of worship

 

beauty speaks its truth

You are good and generous

holding nothing back

 

who am I to ask

with only need to offer?

it is all I have

 

forgive my night fears

lift me with Your sweet fragrance

wash me with Your light

 

lead me on from here

Your path of healing beckons–

i mend as we walk

 

PRAYER FOR THE LORD TO LEAD MY FRIENDS TO REST AND RELIEF

Lord,

This hot summer day, I pray for my friends fighting feverish battles of affliction and oppression, rejection and frustration. I pray for you to give them rest and relieve them in cool green spaces of grace.

I pray that you will settle their anxious thoughts and anguished hearts beside the still waters of your care. Please bless them with the tangible reminders of your love to lead them in the direction of the flow of your goodness and mercy. Thank you because you are faithful and I know you will hear this prayer. As you uniquely know and as you alone can do, I believe you will provide for their needs from the lavish riches of your grace. Amen.

PRAYER FOR HELP WITH THE CHOICE BETWEEN MY WAY OR GRATITUDE

“If we are content with the life we receive from God we have everything we need in Him. We didn’t bring anything into this world, and we won’t take anything with us when we leave. So we should be satisfied just to have food and clothes. It’s the desire for more that tempts and traps us.” — 1 Timothy 6:6-9

Lord,

I ramble into the week rumpled and wary. I have a choice — do I try to make my own way, quick to take offense, prone to roar to get my way? Or do I live gratefully for the life you have given me, the beauty around me, your provision of the essentials?

 Even to consider the choice is to acknowledge you as true. My heart softens and my soul steadies with the thought of You. I lift up my head and listen, glad for you, glad to be alive. Amen.

PRAYER OF PRAISE FOR A RAINBOW

I praise you, Lord, for you have set your promises of peace and security between me and the storm. I will not fear because you are in control. Help me not to be afraid. Amen.

PRAYER FOR GRACE IN HARD PLACES

desiccated heart

I yearn for cool green places

some shade for prayer

 

Lord,

The hymn, “He Hideth My Soul,” was written by a blind woman. The text, “He hideth my soul on a high rock” (Ps 27:5) is about the Temple. It never mentions “the cleft of the  rock where rivers of pleasure I see.” But grace flows in the hardest places, smoothing and shaping. Lord, I have hard situations that defy my strength and exhaust my spirit. I too suffer blindness. I need you to shade, wash, and heal me with the limpid currents of your love. Thanks. Amen!

PRAYER OF PRAISE AND THANKS FOR BEAUTY SURPASSING SUFFERING

“Heavens and earth be happy. Mountains shout with joy, because the Lord comforts His people and will have compassion on those who suffer.”  — Isaiah 49:13

Lord,

You take my breath away with beauty, and fill me with awe with your grandeur, but what melts my heart and delights my soul is Your tender thought of love towards me. That you know my name and desire my good amazes me beyond words. I turn my face toward heaven and praise and thank You! Amen.

PRAYER OF SURRENDER IN THE FACE OF THE UNKNOWN

“Create in me a new heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” — Psalm 51:10

Lord,

I have no idea who or what I will encounter today along the way you will lead me. It doesn’t matter. I am yours. Make me what you want me to be. Give me words and wisdom and protect me from harm. Make me stronger for the experience. I love and trust you, Lord. Thank you for loving me and staying with me through this journey. I am most grateful! Amen.

PRAYER OF GRATITUDE

Lord,

Your provision is constant and your shelter is secure. Refresh us with memories of your generous love in past seasons. Inspire us with new hope of a future with you. Fill us with the joy of your presence today!

May gratitude open the curtains of our souls and let the light in and your glory shine out. Amen.

PRAYER OF THANKS FOR GOD’S SHELTERING CARE

“Every animal in the forest belongs to me, and so do the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds in the mountains, and every wild creature us in my care.” — Psalm 50:10-11

Lord,

I am small and inconsequential, but you have me covered because I belong to you. Thank you for the promise and the reality of your love. I start this week knowing I am safe in the stronghold of your care. Thank you for being over me, around me and under me. With you all things are possible! I am good with whatever comes from your hand and heart. Amen.

PRAYER FOR ENCOURAGEMENT IN THE STORM

Dear Lord and Savior,

We know you found peace and rest at night out on the water. You went to sleep knowing that the storm would come, and slept in the raging gale until your anxious disciples woke you up with a desperate plea to “Save us!” You told them to cross the sea to the other side, and the tempest of such consequence to them was nothing to you since you were good to your word and you would take them safely wherever you told them to go.

But you were kind to them and quieted the wind and the waves to relieve their terror, even though you were with them and would not let them sink or drown in any case.

You have called and sent us on our way. But the storms of illness, oppression and stress threaten to swamp us, at least that’s what we think and feel. You’re in our boat. You have told us to go on and cross over. Help us to remember the certainty of your grace. You hold on to us even when we lose our grip because you have promised to be with us always. We are only human and  we need reassurance. Thanks for your touch and comfort. Amen.

To pray about everything is to live in and through Christ, looking for him in every situation and need. The joy of that life grows for me in every midnight hour that I spend with him pleading the case of my friends.

Please note that the content and viewpoints of Mr. Hansen are his own and are not necessarily those of the C.S. Lewis Foundation. We have not edited his writing in any substantial way and have permission from him to post his content.

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Kent Hansen is a Christian attorney, author and speaker. He practices corporate law and is the managing attorney of the firm of Clayson, Mann, Yaeger & Hansen in Corona, California. Kent also serves as the general counsel of Loma Linda University and Medical Center in Loma Linda, California.

Finding God’s grace revealed in the ordinary experiences of life, spiritual renewal in Christ and prayer are Kent’s passions. He has written two books, Grace at 30,000 Feet and Other Unexpected Places published by Review & Herald in 2002 and Cleansing Fire, Healing Streams: Experiencing God’s Love Through Prayer, published by Pacific Press in spring 2007. Many of his stories and essays about God’s encompassing love have been published in magazines and journals. Kent is often found on the hiking trails of the southern California mountains, following major league baseball, playing the piano or writing his weekly email devotional, “A Word of Grace for Your Monday” that is read by men and women from Alaska to Zimbabwe.