Prayers for You
An extra dose for the extra Saturday in July
As a bonus for July’s extra Saturday, here’s a quick offering for your weekend: two prayers from my book To Bless Our Callings: Prayers, Poems, and Hymns to Celebrate Vocation.
To encourage congregations to pray regularly for the callings of all their members, I gathered and wrote prayers to use throughout the calendar year to bless different kinds of work.
As this weekend spans July and August, here is a prayer from July (when churches could bless caregivers) and August (a time to remember all who labor outdoors).
If you’d like to use these in your community, simply include the copyright info below—and consider adding the book to your prayer collection if you’d like?
A Prayer for Those Who Raise Children
Loving God,
you care for each of us like a tender parent,
guiding and nurturing,
comforting and forgiving,
responding to our daily needs.
Bless those whose work is done behind closed doors,
beyond what society sees:
for those who comfort babies, teach toddlers, raise children, or parent teenagers;
for those who work round the clock, day and night;
for those who cook, clean, feed, bathe, drive, teach, listen, and love.
May they know their work is worthy, even when it is unpaid.
May they know their calling matters, even when it is unnoticed.
May they know their vocation is holy, even when it is humbling.
We ask that you guide these adults, and the children in their lives,
as they call them into deeper faith, greater wisdom, and stronger love.
Amen.
Copyright © 2017 Laura Kelly Fanucci, in To Bless Our Callings: Prayers, Poems, and Hymns to Celebrate Vocation (Wipf & Stock, 2017).
A Prayer for Laborers
Christ who was carpenter and craftsman,
you knew the value of a hard day’s work.
Bless all who labor with their hands—
with tools or machines,
in factories or shops,
on highways or in homes.
As their efforts build up our communities,
guide their work and bless their rest
that the fruits of their labors
might proclaim the value of their callings
and celebrate the quality of a job well done.
We ask this in your name. Amen.
Copyright © 2017 Laura Kelly Fanucci, in To Bless Our Callings: Prayers, Poems, and Hymns to Celebrate Vocation (Wipf & Stock, 2017).
Peace,
Laura
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Find my books here: Everyday Sacrament | Grieving Together | Prayers for Pregnancy & Birth | To Bless Our Callings | Living Your Discipleship