Prayer for Discernment

If anyone is out there, I ask for your prayers that my family and I will discern God's will for us. We need to come up with the decision today as to which of two houses God wants us to move to. Thank you so much!

What Was Lost is Now Found - Thanks, God!

I had a scare this morning and lost something that if not found would have caused problems both practical and financial.

This was a big deal.

But as I searched, I prayed.

And the items in question were located (in a place, where had I not found them, someone else certainly would have and then we would have had huge problems.)

So, I just want to say Thank You to God, and Saint Anthony who certainly came to my aid this morning!

Healing in Relationship Needed

Christine left the following prayer request:

Hi all,
I have been struggling with my own prayers and decided to put in a prayer request.

I have separated from a great man in my life that I now believe God has given me since December 2009. While I knew he was the right one, I had allowed negativity to cloud my judgement and behaviour, and led to his departure.

The months that followed, I had agonized and continued to be negative and suspicious of his motives. But praying not only for my recovery but also thanking for him has made me see how much I had meant to him and his efforts to help me. But I was continuously pushing him away. Now that this is clear, all the other issues surrounding us in the past year that I have influence over were also resolved.

I pray for a chance to have him open his heart to me.
I pray for me to have wisdom to see his needs and thoughts.
I pray that we will be open and honest to each other in all circumstances as we are still friends.
I pray that we no longer have to be so withholding about everything, even if it hurts ourselves and the other because honesty would help us grow in the relationship and friendship.
I pray that the love that I now understand and feel albeit delayed, continues to be pure and without greed, jealousy or wrong reasons

Evangelizing the Faith

On a Saturday morning when I look out the window and see well-dressed men and women, in pairs, making their way up to people's front doors and waiting patiently for someone to answer, I know what it means. And while some people will hide behind their curtains and pretend to not be home, I always answer with a smile.

Whether the people at my door are Jehovah's Witnesses or Mormon's, I always assure them with a smile that I am familiar with the saving ways of God and wish them a wonderful day.

As a Catholic, I have doctrinal differences with both of those groups, but I don't get into that on my doorstep. I may not agree with their theology, but I have deep admiration for their willingness to go out in the streets to proclaim it.

I have a hard time proclaiming my faith. Even in situations where it would be expected, I am uncomfortable doing so.

An example would be at the recent Baptism Class my husband and I taught. This is an informal meeting with several couples who hope to have babies baptized in the coming months. We go over the technical details of the day at our church as well as the meaning of Baptism and also some real life examples of how we live our faith with our children.

At this particular class we only had three couples. Two of them had older children (as well as infants), one who was going to be making his First Communion in the coming year. The mother of that child told me that she didn't go to church. Just didn't. She figured she could pray at home just as easily. The other mother of an older child's eyes lit up and she said "Oh yes, that's how I feel too!"

And there we sat, acting as representatives for the church. But we couldn't sit there and say that it was a sin not to go to church. To chastise them would simply convince them they were right in their position. But yet, we couldn't quietly let their assertions go, because it would seem like we agreed. So, I had to say something.

I told them that of course they could pray at home. That it was wonderful to pray at home and in fact they should do it all the time. But then I told them that the Mass offered them something they couldn't get at home. It offered the Eucharist. Don't cheat yourself out of that, I told them. I also shared how when I was in college I was not too consistent in my church going and that after several weeks of missing Mass I felt that something was out of kilter with my life. I went to Mass and suddenly felt much better. It was the first time I'd ever really gone to Mass because I "wanted" to and not because it was expected of me and I had reaped great benefit from it.

I don't know if these families will be getting to Mass anytime soon, but I'm hoping they'll try to go now and then.

And I have even more respect for people who go door to door to tell unsuspecting strangers about God.

Reconciliation Sought

The anonymous prayer request was left in the comments:

Please pray for my intention to have a reconciliation and forgiveness with my special friend. We had a simple misunderstanding that leads to our separation. I am praying and hoping that God will give us another chance to be good friends and lovers again. I believe that God let this things happened for us to be a better person for each other and it's just like a trial or storm in our relationship that we can make it and we will find our way to see each other again in God's time. I believe in God's power, mercy, love and miracle. I ask this in Jesus name Our Lord and Saviour. Amen.

Marives

Difficulties in life need prayers

The anonymous prayer request was left in the comments:

Please pray for me and my current situation, I am in the midst of a ugly custody battle for my 2 wonderful kids.Please for me that I am blessed by the lord to receive a job worthy of my talents and education that will allow me do the lords will and support my family. a job is one of the stipulation that the court has to grant custody back to me. I have been unemployed for more than a year and it is becoming very difficult . My unemployment is exhausted and there just seems to be no end in sight. I know the lord is the only one that can turn this around. There are so many in this predicament, I know i need a holy intervention to make a difference.

Friend in need of help

An anonymous poster left the following prayer request on behalf of a friend:

Please pray for my friend, she is in desperate need of a revelation. There is a man who I believe is a scam artist in her life and it is like he has her under his spell. She is disabled and has a very kind heart,he has her suckered in by the fact that she will recieve her money very soon, but she has to keep on giving him more money to help him with fees and to keep his cell phone on and the list goes on & on. I have tried to prove to her that he is just using her and that if he were a real business man he would not need her help he would be able to take out a business loan or work somewhere and get these things for himself. He has even taken over her house and is using it for his office space leaving her with no where to go, She has to spend nights going from place to place like a vagrant because he has convinced her that he needs the full use of her house for his business dealings.He tells her he conducts his business meetings there etc. and has to make important phone calls and has her thinking it would be rude of her to be present for theses meetings in her own bedroom, yet she is a board member in this business. Her children and I have tried to convince her to put a stop to it but she won't. Please pray the blinders come off and she sees that the payoff is not going to come

Need Healing of the Heart and Soul

The following prayer request was left by an anonymous poster:

I have been thrust into a terrible situation with my husband committing suicide last year. Since then I met a wonderful man that I have mistreated. I have been suspicious and moody and angry and thrust things on him no one should have to listen to.

This person is very dear to me, and I know I am heartsick over what my late husband did, and the legal hassles and overwhelming sadness he left me with.

Please pray that my friend finds it in his heart to understand that I am heartsick but getting better, and that when I have a bad day, I did not LIE to him about changing. I am only human and sometimes scared and overwhelmed by all that has happened.

Please God, have mercy on me, and help me be composed, kind, loving and appreciative of all I have been given.

May God have mercy on my soul, which is so heavy and sad.

Pray for Reconciliation

Vashit left the following prayer request in the comments:

Hi Prayer Friends!

Please pray for reconciliation for me and Christian. It's almost 2 years now I have been trying to ask him for forgiveness but nothing seems better to him. His heart is still too hard. He is a special person in my life. I need him to realize and come back to me very soon.

Thanks!

Pray for Successful Surgery

The following prayer request was left in the comments:

Please pray for Jenna, a teenager who is facing brain surgery this week.

Pray for Healing

The following prayer request was in the comments:

I found the love of my life - and spent the happiest year of my life with him. A month ago, a sudden and devastating illness damaged his mind, and he lapsed into a coma. He is recovering slowly - but his memory has been brutally affected.

He does not remember me as his soulmate, which is what he professed me to be just days before he became ill. I am desperate, I am heartbroken, I feel so helpless. Please, women of prayer, pray with me that he finds his way back to health, and, if it is God's will, to me. I am lost without him.

A New Direction

I've decided that as well as the prayer requests I'd like to post some reflections on religion and the bible here. If any of the other contributors would like to do that as well, you are more than welcome!

Forgiveness and Redemption

In the Gospel this morning (John 21:1-19) we see the apostles encountering the risen Christ yet again. They haul in a big load of fish and then sit and have a breakfast of fish and bread baked over a charcoal fire. When they finish eating Jesus calls Peter aside and three times he asks Peter "Do you love me?" Peter answers that of course he does, but by the third time starts to get annoyed (as anyone who has repeatedly answered the same question from someone might be).

Jesus asks three times, not because he doesn't hear him answer, or doesn't quite believe what he's being told, but because Peter denied Jesus three times. Jesus gave Peter a chance at redemption. Three denials earlier, and now three assertions of his love.

Peter probably felt pretty far past forgiveness when he first realized that he had denied his Lord just as Jesus had predicted. But Jesus gave him the opportunity to make up for it.

I find this very comforting. We stumble and fall along the way, but Jesus is always there, ready to forgive and to give us another chance.

Pray for Reconciliation

The following prayer request was left in the comments.

Please pray for me to reconcile with my ex in Arizona, I am grasping at straws after three years I am still in love and think the relationship will work
Bless You
T.B.

Pray for Peace Between Friends

The following prayer request was left in the comments:

I pray, and if you who are reading could please pray with me, that one day soon,a person who was my best friend for many years will come back and the spirit of unforgiveness and jealousy will leave her heart and that we can be reconciled and enjoy the friendship that we had in the past. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Pray for Healing

Theresa left the following prayer request:

Please add your prayers for continued healing for my son & his girlfriend & their baby, to continue to grow together, work through their problems and to rebuild their life. All of the shared prayers have brought them safely this far and I pray for them to continue on with HIS light guiding them along their way.

I give thanks daily for the strength, courage, friends, family & faith that I have, they are such a beautiful thing in my life.

Pray for Strength

The following anonymous prayer request was made in the comments:

Please pray for me and my family as we struggle with job loss. I have come back to the Church and wish only to take care of my family and let God do with me what He wills and that the Holy Spirit and Our Lady strengthen me to not falter. I have been devastated more so and have renewed gratitude for how He has helped me in the past and that when present difficulties lift I may keep Him uppermost in my mind.

Updates on our friends - sorry to be so late!

Our friends: Bob, who had a brain tumor, and Brian, who had major neck surgery are both responding well to therapy. We have no idea how much they'll recover, but they're both able to walk, with assistance, and can care for themselves to a degree.
God has blessed them!

NOTE TO Christine M: is the MSP Group still meeting?

Pray for Special Intentions

Brenda left the following prayer requests.

Please pray for my daughter and son in law. They have one child and have been trying for months to conceive their second child. Please pray for God to gift them with another precious baby, if it be His will, in Jesus Name.

Thank you and may God Bless you all !

and

Please pray for me as I await the final decision on a job I have interviewed for and am trusting God for....I am praying for His will, in the name of Jesus, and I thank Him for all his many, many blessings in my life ! I believe in my heart and soul this is the right job for me....I should be hearing very soon and I appreciate all your prayers for the perfect will of God in my life and for a job !

I pray many blessings on all who post on this site and for answers to your prayers ! Thank you and God Bless you all !

We will be praying for you, and your intentions, Brenda.

Pray for a Successful Job Interview

The following prayer request was left in the comments:

Hello,

Please pray for my husband, Alan, as he is interviewing for a job with a local cable company. This is a great opportunity, one in which he can learn new skills and one that will provide benefits for our family. My husband lost his job during the summer of 2008 and I lost mine a week before Thanksgiving 2009. We have a six year old son who is desperately waiting for us to find work so we can bring joy back into this family. I need your prayers. He is interviewing right now. Please pray for the person interviewing him also and anyone else making hiring decisions for him. Thank you!
Sandy

Pray for a peaceful pro-life rally and walk

We pray for the safety of those traveling to Washington DC and for a peaceful pro-life rally and walk.

Please pray for my daughter who is taking the SAT test on Saturday.

Thanks, everyone!

Pray for a Successful Job Search

The following prayer request was left yesterday, so the job interview in question has already happened. Pray that things went well.

REQUEST FOR A JOB INTERVIEW PRAYER.

I hope the request didnt come late, but in about 25min, my boyfriend will be attending an interview. I've just came across this site now, searching for prayers on the net.

we have done all that we could to prepare and he has the experience, this job will assist him and us, there just so many needs and this job will help hi, we also want to get married etc this year.

please if there is anyone please pray for Syabonga Nkambule

Tragedy in Haiti

The tragedy unfolding this past week in Haiti is so huge I think it's nearly impossible for any of us to really grasp the horror of it all.

My brother has been living and working in Haiti for the past couple of years. He was in his house - having gotten off work early - when the quake hit. Things started flying off shelves, his china cabinet crashed to the ground. He didn't know what was happening, but he got out of the house. When the world stopped shaking he went back in and grabbed shoes and long pants (he'd been relaxing in shorts and sandals). Three of the houses near his had collapsed. His still stood - but he's unsure how stable it is and has not gone back into it since.

The house next to his had gone down the cliff. A house two houses away had collapsed. Co-workers of his lived there. For the next six hours he helped dig them out of the house. Five of the six people living there got out alive.

He then made his way to the U.S. Embassy where he's been basically living in his office for the past week. He's gotten very little sleep as he has helped with rescues and dealt with administrative issues. In his words it is a nightmare, horrendous and something that has changed his outlook on life and on people forever.

My brother is one of the lucky ones. He is alive. His family was not living in Haiti - so they are safe. He has a roof over his head - even if it is only his office - and food provided by the military to eat. And although he may never be able to recover the possessions in his house, it is not all he owns.

Where is God in all this?

That is the natural question. How can a loving God permit this kind of tragedy?

I don't know why God permits tragedy, except that I believe God created this earth and all that is in it and watches over it, but does not micromanage it. He does not form each cloud and rainstorm at a whim. Things happen because of the natural law of the place God created.

Why doesn't he stop these tragedies? If God is all powerful, he could.

Better minds then mine have grappled with these questions and I don't think anyone has ever come up with a definitive answer.

But what I do see is the goodness of people shining through. People all over the world are donating their time, money and talents to help those who are suffering.

The world got a little smaller last week, when we realized that those in Haiti are the neighbors of everyone in this global community. And people stepped in to help their neighbors.

And there have been little miracles. Today I saw a story that a fifteen-day-old baby was pulled, alive, from the rubble of her house. Fifteen days old. She was eight days old when the earthquake struck. She has spent nearly half her life trapped in rubble. But she is alive. And her mother is alive. And they are together again.

So we praise God for the miracles, he thank him for allowing us to see the goodness in others amidst this horror and we pray, not only for the souls of those who died, but for the living, that they may find peace, that things will get better.

We pray. Because it is the least we can do.