Prayer for charity

[CarmeliteGirl25]

Dear Lord, please help me increase my charity and devotion to You, especially those times that are especially difficult and I cannot find the kind words to speak to others. In these times, let me be silent and prayerful, and let me not speak an ugly word to my neighbor. Help me to remember that all are mirrors of You. When I look at them, let me remember to look for You in them. Help me forget my anger and please You in others.
*
** Learning Christ**
Teach me, my Lord, to be sweet and gentle
In all the events of life-
in disappointments,
in the thoughtlessness of others,
in the insincerity of those I trusted,
in the unfaithfulness of those on whom I relied.

Let me put myself aside,
to think of the happiness of others,
to hide my little pains and heartaches,
so that I may be the only one to suffer from them.

Teach me to profit by the suffering that comes across my path.
Let me so use it that it may mellow me, not harden nor embitter me;
That it may make me patient, not irritable. That it may make me broad in
My forgiveness, not narrow, haughty and overbearing.

May no one be less good for having come within my influence. No one less pure,
Less true, less kind, less noble for having been a fellow-traveler in our journey
Toward ETERNAL LIFE.

As I go my rounds from one distraction to another, let me whisper from time to time,
A word of love to Thee. May my life be lived in the super-natural, full of power for
Good, and strong in its purpose of sanctity. Amen.*

 

[Trishie]

Prayer for charity to others

Jesus, please open us to receive each other with love, so that we no longer betray God’s Love that re-creates us in each moment of life. Reveal to us our sins against charity, and heal us of fears and prejudices that lead to judgement of others.

How easily even the generous Christian reduces others to categories, judging them with unconscious pride and lack of empathy! How carelessly, with convincing appraisal and bias, we dismiss others in their seeming sin, error or foolishness. How often we misjudge them in their difficulties and achievements, and underestimate their intrinsic worth as persons!

Jesus, please forgive us that we presume to deal uncharitably with anyone! Each person is Your own creation lovingly spoken out of Yourself in the private language of love chosen for each alone! No matter how different from one’s own character or journey, the path and meaning of each person is treasured mystery hidden within You!

Let us share in Your love for others, rejoicing in Your image within them whether evident or not. Let us reverence our dissimilarity and their individuality. Let us be respectful and discreet in our helpfulness. Have mercy on our prayer and goodwill for them, so that we may love them with Your Love. Jesus, I am so sorry for the times I fail to love others wisely and respectfully.

 

[Trishie]

Jesus, You command that we love each other as You have loved us. You add that there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for others. “Since the Father loved us so much that He sent You to be the sacrifice that takes our sins away, we too should love one another.” [John 4:10-11] “By such love, everyone will know that we are Your disciples.”

You have said, “Anyone who says ‘I love God’, and hates his brother is a liar, since a person who does not love the brother that he can see, cannot love God whom he has never seen.” [1 letter of John 4:20-21] Yet it can be difficult to love others when they appear ‘troublesome’, or misjudge or reject us, or when we are weary and preoccupied!

Each of us has only our personal consciousness, so that we only know our own feelings and thoughts, and may only imagine another’s. “The depths of a person can only be known by his own spirit, not by any other person.” [1Corinthians 2:1] So how can we truly love? “Let us love one another, since love comes from God.” [John 4:7] Therefore, Jesus, we may hope for God’s love in us that we may love as You have loved us.

As You have said, to live as Your disciples, as children of the Father, is impossible for humankind—but “nothing is impossible to God.” Love begins with awareness that each person is loved child of the Father. Therefore, Jesus, I pray for Your love in me for everyone You bring into my life. I forgive and bless each person who has hurt my loved ones or me. Please ensure that we forgive, however deeply others action or inaction wound us.

You have made us Your brothers and sisters; therefore, we will strive to overcome the difficulties that natural selfishness generates. We seldom must actually die as You did, for another person’s sake. Yet every day there are ways that we relinquish some preference, desire, or convenience for the need or wish of another person. Let Your Holy Spirit carry us lovingly though these little deaths. Love requires that we do so generously, kindly and cheerfully, for reluctance or resentment is not of the love that lays down life for anyone.

You wish us to love all whom You in any way entrust to our care, but You also require us to love and pray for our enemies—those who make our lives difficult and painful. Jesus, forgive us for those failures to love them truly. [Matthew. 5:44]

 

[CarmeliteGirl25]

Trishie, thank you for your prayers. I have recognized my failings and shortcomings in being charitable to others, including a faithful friend who I casually turned away when she needed help. My selfishness and pride has caused me inflict pain on the Heart of Jesus, who I love above all.

Jesus, I beg for your mercy. I am a sinner and unworthy of your grace.

 

[Simon_X]

Dear Lord, please help me increase my charity and devotion to You, especially those times that are especially difficult and I cannot find the kind words to speak to others. In these times, let me be silent and prayerful, and let me not speak an ugly word to my neighbor. Help me to remember that all are mirrors of You. When I look at them, let me remember to look for You in them. Help me forget my anger and please You in others.
*
** Learning Christ***
Teach me, my Lord, to be sweet and gentle
In all the events of life-
in disappointments,
in the thoughtlessness of others,
in the insincerity of those I trusted,
in the unfaithfulness of those on whom I relied.

Let me put myself aside,
to think of the happiness of others,
to hide my little pains and heartaches,
so that I may be the only one to suffer from them.

Teach me to profit by the suffering that comes across my path.
Let me so use it that it may mellow me, not harden nor embitter me;
That it may make me patient, not irritable. That it may make me broad in
My forgiveness, not narrow, haughty and overbearing.

May no one be less good for having come within my influence. No one less pure,
Less true, less kind, less noble for having been a fellow-traveler in our journey
Toward ETERNAL LIFE.

As I go my rounds from one distraction to another, let me whisper from time to time,
A word of love to Thee. May my life be lived in the super-natural, full of power for
Good, and strong in its purpose of sanctity. Amen.

These we pray…Amen…

 

[St_Gabriel]

Dear Lord, please help me increase my charity and devotion to You, especially those times that are especially difficult and I cannot find the kind words to speak to others. In these times, let me be silent and prayerful, and let me not speak an ugly word to my neighbor. Help me to remember that all are mirrors of You. When I look at them, let me remember to look for You in them. Help me forget my anger and please You in others.
*
** Learning Christ***
Teach me, my Lord, to be sweet and gentle
In all the events of life-
in disappointments,
in the thoughtlessness of others,
in the insincerity of those I trusted,
in the unfaithfulness of those on whom I relied.

Let me put myself aside,
to think of the happiness of others,
to hide my little pains and heartaches,
so that I may be the only one to suffer from them.

Teach me to profit by the suffering that comes across my path.
Let me so use it that it may mellow me, not harden nor embitter me;
That it may make me patient, not irritable. That it may make me broad in
My forgiveness, not narrow, haughty and overbearing.

May no one be less good for having come within my influence. No one less pure,
Less true, less kind, less noble for having been a fellow-traveler in our journey
Toward ETERNAL LIFE.

As I go my rounds from one distraction to another, let me whisper from time to time,
A word of love to Thee. May my life be lived in the super-natural, full of power for
Good, and strong in its purpose of sanctity. Amen.

Amen.

 

[Trishie]

Dear Lord, please help me increase my charity and devotion to You, especially those times that are especially difficult and I cannot find the kind words to speak to others. In these times, let me be silent and prayerful, and let me not speak an ugly word to my neighbor. Help me to remember that all are mirrors of You. When I look at them, let me remember to look for You in them. Help me forget my anger and please You in others.
*
** Learning Christ***
Teach me, my Lord, to be sweet and gentle
In all the events of life-
in disappointments,
in the thoughtlessness of others,
in the insincerity of those I trusted,
in the unfaithfulness of those on whom I relied.

Let me put myself aside,
to think of the happiness of others,
to hide my little pains and heartaches,
so that I may be the only one to suffer from them.

Teach me to profit by the suffering that comes across my path.
Let me so use it that it may mellow me, not harden nor embitter me;
That it may make me patient, not irritable. That it may make me broad in
My forgiveness, not narrow, haughty and overbearing.

May no one be less good for having come within my influence. No one less pure,
Less true, less kind, less noble for having been a fellow-traveler in our journey
Toward ETERNAL LIFE.

As I go my rounds from one distraction to another, let me whisper from time to time,
A word of love to Thee. May my life be lived in the super-natural, full of power for
Good, and strong in its purpose of sanctity. Amen.

 

[ready]

Amen to all the beautiful prayers posted thus far on this thread.