Father God,
I have come to You tonight in need of peace and comfort. God, You know the burdens which are heaviest on my heart. I pray that You grant me wisdom to deal with each and every issue from each and every one of my children. I thank You for every child you have placed in our care. Each one has been a blessing to us and we are so thankful for the changes they bring into our lives. God, I humbly beseech You to help me look at each child individually. Help me to address their individual needs, rather than lumping them all together into an ovewhelming mess. Father, I know that you hear me and will provide for me. I thank You. Tonight, when I logged on to this page, I was greeted with music that only You could have known that I would respond to. God, you are an awesome God!
Dear Heavenly Father,
I come to you today out of concern for our adopted son, Anthony. He is so precious to us, but he is struggling. We pray that you will give us patience in addressing his needs. We pray that you will give the people who are trying to help him the skill and knowledge to do so. Father, you gave him to us and we rejoice in that. Help us to be the best parents that we can be and that we can begin to heal his little heart. Thank you father for everything you have given us. In his name, Amen
God please bless these families that are so tired. Please give them the strength that they need. Thank you for getting me to this website so that I can learn, and be better prepared for our son. Your word says that you didn't give us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Thank you for these gifts you have already given us, that are going to help us in parenting Hunter. We will not be afraid to do this. Thank you God. In Jesus name. Amen.
Dear Lord, please hear my prayers for my child and my family. We are struggling, Lord. Please help us to get through this holiday season safely and calmly. Sometimes the RAD life feels like a spiral staircase that keeps going round and round and round, with no way to get to the very top. I'm tired, Lord. So tired. Please shine your light on us so that we may safely find our way. Amen
God please prepare Hunter's heart for us. Please let him know that you are with him, and help him be comforted. He is such a little boy, to have so many grown up problems. Please have your will in both his life and ours. If we are not the best family for him, then please send him someone better. He is just a little guy. AMEN
Please guide us in our decision to adopt Hunter, while so many people
are trying to talk us out of it. We need peace in this decision. Amen.
Lord, help me keep this song in my heart and on my tongue through the whining and the rages:
The Joy of the Lord will be my strength.
I will not falter, i will not faint.
He is my shepherd, I am not afraid.
For the Joy of the Lord is my strength.
Oh, Lord! Help us to hold fast all together to Your path, even in the shaky times. Lord! You have promised to help us in our time of trouble and need. We rest upon Your word.
- Imam Moujahed Bakhach
Lord, I thank you for blessing me, and I even thank you for the ache in my heart because I know that means that my heart has been well used. I pray that you would give me faith, and hope, and that you would renew my strength. Help heal his hurts, replace his doubt with security, and show him the permanence of my love. Help him not only to understand it, but to believe that it is true. Keep him from temptation, bless his day, and bless our relationship. Guide me in my every action, Lord, and help me be the person that you would have me be. Amen.
Oh Heavenly father, Lord, I pray for your will and direction in dealing with this very challenging and obviously very hurt young lady! Lord, I pray that on the days when I feel that it is hopeless, your sweet spirit will whisper in my ear, the truth! I pray for your healing hands to touch my special gal and help her to break down the wall she has built around her heart. Thank you Lord, for bringing her into my life. I know I have been truly blessed!
Gracious God, my heart is heavy with my own failures. I try to excuse them and explain to myself why they occurred, because I want to be free from the feeling that I am unworthy and incapable of being all that I can be. But I find it easier to accept your forgiveness than to forgive myself. When I try to forgive myself, it seems I only remember and re-play my failures in my mind, and a sense of hopelessness floods over me. Help me to know that my past actions are a part of my growing humanity and that even when I fail to live up to what is your will for me, every single moment can be lived anew.
All around me people are suffering. When I turn away from my own problems, I feel sorrow for the problems of others. I am daily confronted with the pain and suffering of so many innocent people in my life and in the world. Suffering seems to eagerly eat at the edges of life until people are worn down with sadness and despair. Even though I do not understand the reasons for suffering, I believe that you are a God of love, a God of compassion. I pray that you will be with all those this day that are in pain, who suffer silently and alone, who feel abandoned and left by the side of life's road. Wrap your arms of grace around them, until they know they are safely held in your embrace. And, I pray, that you will fill my heart with the same compassion, and give me eyes to see how I can lovingly be a part of their healing.
Dear God, as I go to bed ready to close my eyes in sleep, I think of all of the things I wish I had not said, and had not done. I offer those to you with sorrow, and pray that you will wrap them in your blanket of forgiveness. Thank you for this day. Thank you for all that has been done, and even for all that has been left undone. Let me rest now in your peace, so that tomorrow I may be strong enough to make better decisions for the good of myself... and for my family. Amen.
Dear God, Help my unbelief. When I'm in pain, I forget that you care about me. I forget that you have helped me through my trials. I forget that you hold me in your arms to keep me safe. I forget that you are feeling my pain with me. I forget that you love me. I forget that I am important to you. Show me your presence - let me feel your enveloping love. Heal my hurting soul. Thank you for staying with me even in my unbelief. Amen
Blessed Father, Christ the Son...
It is a long lonely day Lord that I come to you again in sorrow and tears. I have no longer the joy you gave to me. I cannot find it, it has all but disappeared. She is such a beautiful child, a young woman now. Covered in tattoos, stained by sexual adventures, and so cold to us. How we love her... her father, her brothers and me - her adoptive mother. What did we do wrong, why does she stay away? She knows we love her, she knows we cray. She knows we are on the outside looking in, trying to find a way to reach her. I thank you Father for this child. We would not be the family we are if it were not for her. However pained we are, however angry we may become, however confused we are at her rejection, forgive us father. Reach her, pull her back to us. Let her see the beauty you gave to her. Wipe away all of the anger and hurt we have between us. We love her Lord God. We have loved her since the day you brought her to us. She was never not our child. And Father God, if she is to be away from us then give us strength to face the emptiness and protect her God, please protect her. In love and tears, I pray... amen
Dear Lord, I come to you in prayer to ask for protection for my boy who doesn't know that he is loved. Please help him to know inside that we do want to help him. I thank you, Lord for your help. Amen
In Jesus' name I pray that each child who is thought of each day on this
website, may receive in their hearts the love, peace and security that is
so desperately needed. In your name I pray that your presence is known to each parent struggling to reach their children. I pray that your love, forgivness and protection will be spread over all of us this day. Amen
Please pray for my family that we can find it in our hearts to continue loving this child that fights us so badly. Please watch over our young son, and all of our children, and keep us all safe as we do your work. Lord, please also bless those who refuse to help us as we travel this most difficult journey, and those who continue to stand in our way. Amen
Dear Lord, Please help me deal with my anger. I am so weak and it is overtaking my heart and soul. I need to remain calm and empathic to help my son and my family. Help me to be stronger than the evil one who is trying to drive a wedge between us all. Amen
Dear Lord, I ask for help for those parents and families who have a RAD
child. Please give them strength and endurance to know their love will prevail.
Dearest Heavenly Father,
Each of us has burdens and imperfections in our lives, and we are able to work through them or tolerate them, or rise above them because of your love that we feel, and the love of family and friends. But Lord, the RAD child... has so much more to deal with than most of us will ever understand. Please, grant us patience, persistance, love, and understanding for these precious children... teens... and adults. But even more dear Lord, grant them your peace, let them feel your love and ours... amidst their world of confusion. Help each of them to let others help them to confront and overcome what haunts their nights and disrupts their days. Please Lord... grant them patience, love, and understanding too. Help them to learn to love... and let others love them too. Grant them smiles. Grant them parents, teachers, family, and friends... and a community that encircles them with hope and help unending.
Finally dear Father, bless the RAD Family... hold each member close in your heart, giving them the strength to help each other travel this road and confront and conquer this unfair condition. Thank you Lord, for loving us... each and every one of us.
Lord,
I come before you and ask for strength, guidance, and wisdom as I set out on this journey. Please award patience and peace to the restless. Strength and hope to the weak. Let the light shine in on dark corners. Let troubled hearts see the beauty often overlooked in confusion. I ask all of this so we may all be the type of servers we need and ought to be. Thank You for believing in us.
Forever and always
Amen.
Thank you, Lord
(Prayer by the late Henri Nouwen)
Jesus, I ask you to enter into my heart and touch those life experiences which need to be healed. You know me so much better than I know myself. Therefore bring your love to every corner of my heart. Whenever you discover the wounded child, touch her/him, console him/her and release her/him.
Walk back through my life to the very moment when I was conceived. Free me from those things which may have exerted a negative influence at that moment. Bless me as I was being formed within my mother's womb, and remove all barriers to wholeness which may have affected me during those months of confinement.
Grant me a deep desire to want to be born, and heal any physical or emotional trauma which could have harmed me during the birth process. Thank you, Lord, for being there to receive me into your arms at the very moment of my birth, to welcome me onto the earth, and assure me that you would never fail me or desert me.
Jesus I ask you to surround my infancy with your light and touch those memories which keep me from being free. If I needed more of a mother's love, remind me that "there is a mother's heart in the heart of God". I ask her to hold me close, to rock me, to tell me stories and fill in those empty parts of me which need the comfort and warmth only a mother can give.
Perhaps the child inside feels deprived in the area of a father's love. Lord let me be free to cry "Abba, Daddy" with every part of my being. If I needed more of a father's love and security to assure me that I was wanted and loved very deeply, I ask you to hold me and let me feel your strong protective arms. Give me renewed confidence and courage to face the trials of the world because I know my father's love will support me if I stumble and fall.
Walk through my life, Lord, and comfort me when others were not kind. Heal the wounds of encounters which left me frightened, which caused me to retract into myself and erect barriers to people. If I have felt lonely, abandoned and rejected by humanity, grant me, through your healing love, a new sense of worth as a person.
Jesus, I give myself to you, body, mind and spirit, and I thank you for making me whole.
O Holy Virgin, in the midst of all your Glory, we ask you not to forget the sorrows of this world. Cast a look of pity upon all who struggle against life's difficulties, and who cease not to feel all its bitterness. Have pity on all who have been separated from those they love. Have pity on the lonely and friendless. Pardon the weakness of our faith. Have pity on those whom we love. O Holy Mother, show a mother's compassion toward the sorrowful and those who tremble under life's afflictions. Give them hope and peace. Amen, and Amen.
O Lord, hear my prayer!
Keep my feet on the path to do Thy Will as Thou wouldst have it done!
Eternal God, Source of healing,
Out of my distress I call upon You.
Help me sense Your presence, At this difficult time.
Grant me patience when the hours are heavy;
In hurt or disappointment give me courage.
Keep me trustful in Your love.
Give me strength for today, and hope for tomorrow.
To your loving hands I commit my spirit,
When asleep and when awake.
You are with me; I shall not fear.
My heart is broken, Lord. Again.
Surround our child with people who will speak TRUTH to him. Help him to listen to truth, even if he cannot hear it from us.
Protect him when he will not allow us to protect him. Help him understand that the rejection is not from us.
Give us wisdom and patience and tender hearts that can be broken again, healed again and vulnerable enough to let the hurtful words and actions slide off our backs.
Help US to hear truth however you need to speak it.
Thank you for this dear child. Thank you for the pain that goes with the priveledge of being his parents, for it is making us even more what we need to be. Strengthen our hearts and our arms as we hold tight to the man we know you plan for him to become.
Keep us centered in the palm of your hand, and give us peace and joy for the journey along with the pain and struggle. Thank you for not leaving us hopeless.
Yours
May today there be peace within. May you trust God that you are exactly
where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities
that are born of faith. May you use those gifts that you have received,
and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content
knowing you are a child of God. Let His presence settle into your bones, and
allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for
each and every one of us.
My Heavenly Father,
Please give me the patience I need to deal with my daughter today.
Please open my heart to the love that should flow between us.
Please give me the strength to make it to tomorrow.
In the name of Jesus Christ,
Amen.
Father, Please help me to remember that you have no grandchildren, that my children are lent to me by you. Remind them that we are all adopted by our earthly parents and you are the true parent.
Help me to remember that you love my RAD's the same way you love the children who can love you back. Please help me to love them the same way, expecting nothing in return, constantly filling myself with Your love so I have love to give them.
I believe that You make no mistakes, and that each child is unique and lovable if we only dig deeply enough through their pasts, walls and denials. My capacity to love is as small as a grain of sand, while Yours is as huge as the Universe. Sometimes I am weakened, knowing they may never love me, acknowledge my love for them or appreciate anything I do for them.
I realize that if I give these things with a proper attitude, I will be able to accept the constant rejections. Then, too, if I give with my heart I should expect nothing in return.
I must have hurt You so many times through the years of my life, denying You when I was hurt, blaming you for my infirmities. How then can I expect more of my children who were so hurt and humiliated before I even knew them.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing me the opportunity to parent these children and love them. You must trust me, more than I ever knew, to give me these gifts. I love you and I love my children, so very much.
I have given and given and given to my kid, and I don't have anything left over to give to me. Please say a prayer for a burned out RAD mommy who needs to find her way back to good health. No name. No state. Just pray.
God should know who I am.
Dear God,
I am so tired today. Please lift me up and carry me to where I need to be.
Me
Dear Lord,
I ask that you give courage and peace to all those who are involved with a
RAD child. Please help them to never give up on their child, as there is
hope at the end of the tunnel for everyone. Please let these kids out there
know that you love them, and can teach them that you love them; as well as
their parents.
Amen
Slowing Down
Slow my pace, Lord. Slow my life.
Come sit by me at the well. I am exhausted.
Give rest to my heart; bring calm to my feelings.
Come; lead me to the mountain. I am empty.
Give me these hours the leisure to be still
that I savor the quiet of rolling hills,
tasting the presence of the Divine.
Bring me from the running of the day
and the doing of the duties
to the sitting in the evening
to know the reward of being.
Set aside the problems of mind;
soothe the aches of the heart;
give rest ot the body
that I hear the music of my being
and know a quiet that allows the soaring of the soul.
Be gentle, Teacher, teaching the truth of being.
In gentleness, command: "Silence!"
In stillness embrace my spirit
and re-enkindle with love...
and opening the embrace give freedom to the soul.
Slow my pace, Spirit of Love,
breathe into my being, Word...
and with a mighty wind
blow the incarnate word to the ends of the earth.
-Monsignor Bernard Powers
A Mother's Prayer
Oh faithful, heavenly Friends of my children,
I give you heartfelt thanks for all the love and care you give them.
With you as their spiritual guide,
you perfect my care and guidance for each child.
Our Creator has commanded you to be their constant companions
because of His awesome love for all children – even mine.
Continue to watch over my children.
Help them ever to stay on the path of righteousness that leads to Heaven.
Pray, likewise, for me, that I may be a Godly mother and wife.
Please ask the angels of my husband, and entire family,
to be faithful and true to their mission.
Until that day when we all may rejoice in the blessed presence of our Lord,
I promise to give you thanks
and offer prayers for your strength and aid.
Amen.
Prayer for the Family
From the Pontifical Council on the Family's plans for prayer and reflection of families before the 4th World Conference on the Family, Manila, 2003 (June 21, 2002)
Lord God, from you every family
in heaven and on earth takes its name.
Father, you are Love and Life.
Through your Son, Jesus Christ, born of woman,
and through the Holy Spirit, fountain of divine charity,
grant that every family on earth may become
for each successive generation
a true shrine of life and love.
Grant that your grace may guide the thoughts and actions
of husbands and wives
for the good of their families and of all the families in the world.
Grant that the young may find in the family
solid support for their human dignity
and for their growth in truth and love.
Grant that love,
strengthened by the grace of the sacrament of marriage,
may prove mightier than all the weakness and trials
through which our families sometimes pass.
Through the intercession of the Holy Family of Nazareth,
grant that the Church may fruitfully carry out
her worldwide mission in the family
and through the family.
Through Christ our Lord, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life
for ever and ever. Amen.
John Paul II
Footprints
One night a man had a dream.
He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.
For each scene,
he noticed two sets of Footprints in the sand;
one belonging to him,
and the other to the Lord.
When the last scene of his life flashed before him,
he looked back at the Footprints in the sand.
He noticed that many times along the path of his life
there was only one set of Footprints.
He also noticed that it happened
at the very lowest and saddest times of his life.
This really bothered him,
and he questioned the Lord about it:
"Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you,
you'd walk with me all the way.
But I have noticed
that during the most troublesome times in my life
there is only one set of Footprints.
I don't understand why,
when I needed you most,
you would leave me."
The Lord replied:
"My son, My precious child,
I love you and I would never leave you.
During your times of trial and suffering,
when you have seen only one set of Footprints,
it was Then that I carried you."
Author Unknown
The Prayer of Saint Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, let me sow pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light,
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
I am asking for prayers for my family. Prayers for strength, and patience. We are very tired and our RAD child continues to challenge us on a daily basis. Please say a prayer today that my family is strong enough to continue to love him, and find the patience that we need to keep helping him. Please pray for safety for my family, and for all RAD families who are reading this.
My Heavenly Father,
I come to you tonight in prayer for me and my family. I ask you to forgive us as we struggle and make so many mistakes. I ask you to give us strength in these hard times. I ask you to heal our broken family so that we can be a comfort to each other instead of only causing each other pain.
In Jesus' name,
Amen
Dear friends, I am asking for prayers from all of you today. Prayers for my daughter, prayers for a little more healing, and prayers for RAD families everywhere. This is a heavy load that we all need to carry. Please pray that we will all find the help that we need to reach these hurt children, before it's too late. THANK YOU, and thank you Suz for putting the prayer board back up for us.
Dear God, it's me again. I bet you're getting tired of hearing from me so much these last few weeks, but I'm glad that I finally feel safe enough to share my heart with you a little more often. I'm coming to you today, to ask for a little more strength. This is such a tough job and I just get so tired and stressed out. Please help me continue to be the kind of mom that my child needs me to be. Please help me remember that I need to do a few nice things for myself. Please help me remember that I cannot carry the entire load by myself anymore. Please help me continue to reach out to others for help in my time of need, and remind me that it does not make me a weak person to need others to come to my aide. Thank you for your presence in my life. Thank you for not making me do this alone. Thank you from the bottom of my very broken and tired heart. -Amen
Dear Lord,
I need you now because I am full of stress and anxiety. Reading your Word brings comfort, as I ask you to come and take my heavy burdens. I take each burden, one by one, and lay them at your feet. Please carry them for me so that I don't have to. Replace them with your humble and gentle yoke so that I will find rest for my soul today. I receive your gift of peace of mind and heart. Thank you that I can lie down tonight in peace and sleep. I know that you, Lord, will keep me safe. I am not afraid because you are always with me. Please keep me daily, Lord, in your perfect peace. Amen
