A Nightime Prayer

"Holy God.  Loving Father.  Thank You for all You have done....for all You are doing.  The grace You give is more than I can comprehend.  It is ever present.  Even when You must feel forgotten, You still look upon me with favor.  Lord God, I know not enough words of gratitude.  I am humbled by how lavish Your care is for me and how there is truly no end to Your mercy.  Without it I would have been undone a long time ago.    

Thank you, too, for awakening me to pray this night.  You have entrusted to me caring and praying for so many people.  More than I can number.  Their names often seem like the stars in the heaven.  They are like me.  Vulnerable.  Fragile.  Often not sure about what is ahead.  I pray for them.  For a dear one one whose life is disrupted by the uncertainty of illness, I pray.  For a life long friend who is entrusted with care giving, I pray.  I pray for wanderers who are struggling to find their way home to You.  For those who are caught up in the darkness of grief, I pray.  Lord, have mercy on the ones who have heard unsettling news today...whose hearts are troubled. Keep in a safe place those for whom I pray as friends entrusted to me by You.  For a loved one whose body is broken by an injury, I pray in these moments.  I pray, too, for a man whose wife is separated from him by the red tape of government.  Lord, have mercy.

Father God, there are so many.  I am grateful You know the ones who abide in my heart whom I hold up to You.  You know because You have placed them there.  I know I am here now because of the prayers of so many who have been faithful to pray for me.  I thank You for them...those who pray from the heavenly place and those who still wait here on earth.  May we all know what it is to be held in Your hands, Holy Father.  May we all know what it is to be wrapped up in the arms of Your love.  For these moments in the stillness of the night, I am grateful.  Amen."