Prayer: A Heritage of Faith

Here’s a beautiful prayer for Mother’s Day or Father’s Day from Pamela Kennedy’s Songs from a Mother’s Heart.

Prayer
(inspired by Psalm 44)

What a heritage we have, O God.
Generations before us have experienced Your love,
   and passed that knowledge to us.
Great-great-grandfathers and grandmothers
   lived and prayed and sang their hymns to You.
Now I enjoy that rich legacy and acknowledge
   the deep responsibility to pass it on once more.

Help me share Your truth with my children.
May they clearly see You
   and feel Your presence in their hearts.
Let me use words and actions that lift You up
   as the one who conquers all by Your holy name.
Enable me to teach my children
  that only You bring lasting victory.

The world offers so many false heroes
   who promise quick success or easy remedies.
May my children cherish the priceless gift of triumph
   that’s theirs through Your dear Son’s death
   and treasure all the more the faith You have given them.

When they fear defeat,
   when others taunt their faith
      or threaten to destroy them,
   then, O God, remind them how You fought
      for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
   and how You still redeem Your sons and daughters.
Rise up and help them in their time of need.
   Let them know the force of Your unfailing love.

— written by Pamela J. Kennedy, based on Psalm 44.  From Songs from a Mother’s Heart: Meditations on the Psalms, Concordia Publishing House, 1997. 

For more prayers and litanies for Mother’s or Father’s Day, click on Mother’s Day or Father’s Day in the list of “Labels” at the lower right side of the page.