"Pray always and everywhere..."

Over the years my family, friends, and neighbors have shared many prayers, so I thought I would share some of them here.

Prayer is one of the ways that we raise our hearts and minds toward God. Prayer is both personal and communal, and over time we adopt a style of prayer that is comforting and fits our personality.

Like many Christians, I pray spontaneously when the Spirit moves me, but there are times, especially when doing something that I do repeatedly, I like to say the same prayer each time.

Most of the written prayers that I find don't always fit my style of prayer, say what I want to say or how I want to say it. I take bits and pieces along with quotes from various people, mold the words into my own prayers, and offer the prayer for us all.

If you have particular prayers that you find comforting, share them with us if you like.

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Father, You created us and put us on earth for a purpose.

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Lord Jesus, You died for us and called us to complete Your work.

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Holy Spirit, You help us to carry out the work for which we were created and called.

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In Your presence and name, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we reflect on Your Word. May all our thoughts and inspiration have their origin in You, and through them give You glory.

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This prayer helps me to keep my perspective throughout the day.

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Lord, bless the food we enjoy this day.

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Bless Your earth which provided it.

Bless all those that labored to bring it to our table.

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Help us to remember that all things that come from You are good, and

with every breath we take, we glorify You.

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In Your Name, we pray.

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Meals are a good time to slow down and reflect on Who is really in control of my life.

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Lord, remember Your promise to go before us always. Send Your angels to guide and protect us.

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Help us to stay alert;

be patient and courteous;

exercise good judgement; and

be forgiving of the mistakes of others,

so that we may all reach our destinations safely.

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Help us to remember how much we rely on each other for our safety, and how our actions, for better or worse, can have an impact on the lives of many people.

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In Your Name, we pray.

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I usually recite this prayer before starting out, but sometimes I don't remember until I'm already on my way (cluttered mind and all that).

The prayer evolved out of my own need to be more relaxed behind the wheel. One day I realized that I was very intolerant of the driving maneuvers of others, while being blissfully ignorant of my own acts of poor judgement.

When I say, "I realized", I mean to say that someone kindly made me aware of my own inconsistent behavior.

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Lord, we have received the Gift of Your precious Body and Blood.

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May the Grace of Your Gift be for us a helmet of faith, a shield of good will, and a firm defense against the wiles of our enemies, both visible and invisible.

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May Your Grace help us to put and end to all of our evil thoughts, words, and deeds; so that Your Light might shine through everything we think, say, and do; so that others might seek the Father through You, and glorify Him.

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May Your Grace help us to grow in holiness, so that we might obtain the salvation for which we hope.

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In Your Name, we pray.

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The Prayer of Reflection is slightly adapted from the Vision meditation series, by Mark S.J. Link, Tabor Publishing (1992,1998).

The Prayer After Communion is slightly adapted from the Daily Roman Missal, Scepter Publishing (2003). This is the most recent edition that uses scriptural passages from the New American Bible (NAB).

Clip art images from Clker.com are in the public domain and royalty free.

• Sunrise http://www.clker.com/clipart-spring-sun-trees-clouds-blue-sky.html
• Praying Hands http://www.clker.com/clipart-13936.html
• Food Basket http://www.clker.com/clipart-10406.html
• Bread and Wine http://www.clker.com/clipart-2025.html

The Car Over Cliff cartoon is from the Freeway Management Handbook published by the Federal Highway Administration, Freeway Management Program.

• http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freewaymgmt/publications/frwy_mgmt_handbook/images/fig1-2.jpg

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