Betsy's Prayer

* Betsy’s Prayer

* Daily Grace and Sabbath Prayer

* Healing Prayer

* Our Work is Never Done

* Solitary Shabbat Prayer

Bits and Pieces of Prayer

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Betsy's Prayer

Optionally, on days when she is not feeling “lost and alone or angry and conflicted,” Betsy excludes the shaded portion of this prayer.

Dear God:
They say you are here, all around us and inside us
And through you, we find meaning in our lives.
We pray because prayer makes it so,
We pray to bring you to us and to bring us to you.
Dear God, be in my heart and be with me.

[How often when I feel lost and alone or angry and conflicted,
Do I yearn to know you, to feel your presence, to connect with You.
When I am alone in the darkness of night,
When I am surrounded by friends or strangers and feel alone,
When I am full of anger and inner conflict,]
I pray that you be with me and bring me peace.
And I pray you bring me to the place of balance
Between involvement and detachment
Where I can be most help and comfort to myself and others.

I don’t know, Dear God, if the gifts I ask for are the gifts I need,
Or if the troubles and the tests I face
Will bring me to the places I must be.

I don’t know Dear God, if my unfulfilled hopes and dreams,
And my problems with giving and getting love,
And my days full or empty,
May not be the way I learn that I cannot know,
Nor can I understand my life as it unfolds before me.

So I do not pray that my life is easy,
Or that I get what I want, or that my days are happy.
Rather I pray that You help me
To stop complaining and to face my fears with courage,
To live each day fully and to be present with all who come into my life.

Teach me to find the lessons and the blessings hidden
In the daily annoyances
And in the small and great challenges of my life.
Help me to keep going even when I want to give up.
Help me to get out of bed and face each day anew.
Remind me to enjoy the earth’s goodness
But also remind me to find meaning in my life, however it unfolds,
During those times of trouble and sadness, or emptiness, or sameness,
Or disappointment, or even during those times of joy.
Help me to enjoy the happy times and accept the rest.

So light my way Dear God.
Give me courage when I am full of fear.
Give me endurance when I feel long suffering.
Give me vision when I lose my way.
Dear God hear my prayers.
Dear God be with me now and always. Amen.