Tag: Gift

Teach Us To Pray

The Moment of Gratitude

Smitten With Goodness
Season of thanksgiving in prayer

Remember the past with gratitude.  Live the present with enthusiasm.  Look forward to the future with confidence. –St. John Paul II.

A Prayer Inspired by St. John Paul II

Heavenly Father, 

I come before You with a heart full of gratitude, 

Thankful for the blessings of my past, 

For the lessons learned, the love shared, 

And the experiences that have shaped me into who I am today. 

Help me to remember the moments of joy and grace, 

And to carry those memories as a source of strength. 

May I reflect on my journey with a grateful heart, 

Recognizing Your hand at work in every season of my life. 

As I embrace the present, fill me with enthusiasm, 

To live each day to the fullest, 

To appreciate the beauty of each moment, 

And to serve others with love and kindness. 

Help me to be fully present, 

Finding joy in the ordinary and extraordinary alike. 

Looking to the future, grant me confidence and hope, 

Trusting in Your divine plan for my life. 

May I face the unknown with courage, 

Knowing that You are always with me, 

Guiding my steps and lighting my path. 

Lord, help me to live a life marked by gratitude, 

Enthusiasm, and unwavering faith in You. 

In all things, may I seek to glorify Your name, 

And to be a beacon of Your love to the world. 

In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Teach Us To Pray

Counting Every Blessing

Smitten With Goodness
Season of thanksgiving in prayer

Are you counting all your blessings? Pray the words from Rend Collective:

I was lost, now I’m found by the Father
I’ve been changed from a ruin to treasure
I’ve been given a hope and a future
I’ve been blessed beyond all measure

I am counting every blessing, counting every blessing
Letting go and trusting when I cannot see
I am counting every blessing, counting every blessing
Surely every season You are good to me

Teach Us To Pray

Giving Thanks

Smitten With Goodness
Season of thanksgiving in prayer

Let us all give thanks on this day and foster a grateful and loving heart:

For the expanding grandeur of creation, world’s known and unknown, galaxies beyond galaxies, filling us with awe and challenging our imaginations:
We give thanks on this day.
For this fragile planet earth, its times and tides, its sunsets and seasons:
We give thanks on this day.
For the joy of human life, its wonders and surprises, its hopes and achievements:
We give thanks on this day.
For our human community, our common past and future hope, our oneness transcending all separation, our capacity to work for peace and justice in the midst of hostility and oppression:
We give thanks on this day.
For high hopes and noble causes, for faith without fanaticism, for understanding of views not shared:
We give thanks on this day.
For all who have labored and suffered for a fairer world, who have lived so that others might live in dignity and freedom:
We give thanks on this day.
For human liberty and sacred rites; for opportunities to change and grow, to affirm and choose:
We give thanks on this day.
We pray that we may live not by our fears but by our hopes, not by our words but by our deeds.
We give thanks on this day.

– O. Eugene Pickett

Teach Us To Pray

A Prayer of Thanksgiving

Smitten With Goodness
Season of thanksgiving in prayer

In this season we find ourselves in let us always remember that we are in the holy presence of God.


Loving Creator,
We asked for strength, and you gave us difficulties to make us strong.
We asked for wisdom, and you gave us problems to solve.
We asked for prosperity, and you gave us purpose and brains to use.
We asked for courage, and you gave us fears to overcome.
We asked for patience, and you gave us situations where we were forced to wait.
We asked for love, and you gave us troubled people to help.
We asked for justice, and you called us to be just and to lead with integrity.
Lord, we have received nothing that we asked for or wanted.
And yet, we received everything that we needed.
For this, we give thanks.

–Dr. Colleen Hanycz, 35th president of Xavier University

Teach Us To Pray

A Simple Prayer of Gratitude

Smitten With Goodness
Season of Thanksgiving in prayer

As we enter the season of Thanksgiving, I’m grateful that gratitude is more readily on my mind! A photo of God’s love message to me above on a silent retreat. Grateful for the silence in order to hear our Lord’s voice and see the blessings.

Thank you, Lord, for the blessings you have bestowed on my life. You have provided me with more than I could ever have imagined. You have surrounded me with people who always look out for me. You have given me family and friends who bless me every day with kind words and actions. They lift me up in ways that keep my eyes focused on you and make my spirit soar.

Also, thank you, Lord, for keeping me safe. You protect me from those things that seem to haunt others. You help me make better choices and provide me with advisors to help me with life’s difficult decisions. You speak to me in so many ways so that I always know you are here.

And Lord, I am so grateful for keeping those around me safe and loved. I hope that you provide me with the ability and sense to show them every day how much they matter. I hope that you give me the ability to give to them the same kindness they have provided to me.

I am extremely grateful for all of your blessings in my life, Lord. I pray that you remind me of just how blessed I am and that you never allow me to forget to show my gratitude in prayer and return acts of kindness.

Thank you, Lord.

– By Kelli Mahoney

Teach Us To Pray

Prayer After an Election

Smitten With Goodness
Season of Thanksgiving in prayer

God of all nations, Father of the human family,
we give you thanks for the freedom we exercise
and the many blessings of democracy we enjoy
in these United States of America.

We ask for your protection and guidance
for all who devote themselves to the common good,
working for justice and peace at home and around the world.

We lift up all our duly elected leaders and public servants,
those who will serve us as president, as legislators and judges,
those in the military and law enforcement.
Heal us from our differences and unite us, O Lord,
with a common purpose, dedication, and commitment to achieve liberty and justice in the years ahead for all people,
and especially those who are most vulnerable in our midst.

Amen

From USCCB

Teach Us To Pray

For Our President

Smitten With Goodness
Season of thanksgiving in prayer

We have exercised our right to vote for a leader of our nation and to have our voices heard with our ballot. What a gift to have the freedom to do so. Despite our politics and our agreement with the elected candidate, it is our duty to be united for the health of our country. Let’s pray for the Holy Spirit to guide our leader! 

We pray O God of might, wisdom and justice, through whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, assist with your Holy Spirit of counsel and fortitude the president of these United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness and be eminently useful to your people over whom he presides; by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion; by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy; and by restraining vice and immorality.

Excerpt from Archbishop John Carroll’s a “Prayer for our Government” in 1791.

Teach Us To Pray

What Didn’t Happen

Smitten With Goodness
Season of thanksgiving in prayer

Do you take the time to thank God for what didn’t happen?

The missed car wrecks.

The hurricane that didn’t come our way.

My husband didn’t have to go to the hospital.

The spot on the mammogram that was just a cyst.

What are you grateful for that didn’t happen to you today? Send a prayer of thanksgiving to God today.

Teach Us To Pray

Season of Gratitude

Smitten With Goodness
Season of thanksgiving in prayer

As we enter fall and the final quarter of 2024, we move into the Season of Gratitude in our prayer where we thank God for what we have been given.  This is done in prayers of thanksgiving.  I love this statement, before you ask God for anything, first thank him for everything. 

When you sit down to eat, pray. When you eat bread, do so thanking Him for being so generous to you. If you drink wine, be mindful of Him who has given it to you for your pleasure and as a relief in sickness. When you dress, thank Him for His kindness in providing you with clothes. When you look at the sky and the beauty of the stars, throw yourself at God’s feet and adore Him who in His wisdom has arranged things in this way. Similarly, when the sun goes down and when it rises, when you are asleep or awake, give thanks to God, who created and arranged all things for your benefit, to have you know, love and praise their Creator.

St. Basil the Great

Let’s sing prayers of thanksgiving today!