A Few Prayer Resources
The Church of England has two apps and podcasts to support regular prayer at home.
The Daily Prayer App offers the texts for Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Compline (night prayer). The same services are read aloud in a podcast and the audio for Morning Prayer is integrated into the app.
Time to Pray offers a single “day” prayer service and a night prayer service. The language of these services are slightly more “contemporary” and the daytime prayer includes fewer Scripture readings (making it a little less wordy). It’s also a bit less “we praise you in the morning; let’s pray for this day we’re going to have” which is nice if you’re finding that a mid-morning or mid-afternoon time might work better for having a regular pause for prayer in your day. It’s also available both as a podcast and as an app for your smartphone or tablet.
Sanctuary Mental Health is an organization that works with faith communities to increase mental health awareness and support the mental health of their members. They’ve recently circulated some beautiful prayers for these challenging times as COVID lingers and the Delta variant wave rises. You can find them all at here.
And this one seems especially appropriate for us at St Stephen’s:
A PRAYER FOR GRIEF, LESLIE ROBERTS
O Lord, who hears our cries, who is never deaf to our weeping, nor blind to our tears:
We come to you with many griefs, sorrow laid heavy on our hearts:
for loved ones who are ill or isolated in uncertainty
for those trapped in abusive homes
for livelihoods that have disappeared
for friends and family we cannot be near
for goodbyes said at two meter’s distance
for wedding plans suddenly overturned
for funerals we cannot attend
for graduation stages uncrossed
for the loneliness we feel
A time of silence for lament of these things and others
Surely you have borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; our fears and our anxieties are not alien to you.
Lord, in our brokenness and our lament is your presence; in the midst of our fear is your peace.
You, our ever-present help in trouble, are here.
For as long as this season shall last, you will not leave us or forsake us.
You, O Lord, are our Rock. Your still, small voice our refuge.
In the unknown waves of this storm, still you anchor us.
In the roar of the tempest, still you sing to us.
In the midst of our grief, may we know you still more closely.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.