Prayers for Prisoners

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iserve

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I would like to ask again for your prayers in my situation. I lost my job in prison last week, and tonight my co-workers brought to me the outpouring of love and letters from the men to me. I am almost ashamed to read the beautiful things that they wrote to me, about how much the work I did helped them and put them on a path for change. A good number of them mentioned God and prayer, which was something many of them gave little consideration to in the past (although I did not work for a religious organization they knew I was devoted and went to Mass every Friday at noon.) It was a standing order that I pray for them on my lunch hour!

These were not easy students, as many of them are very violent and play hard with guns and drugs. They are felons in a maximum security facility and have been criminals most of their lives. The work is hard and getting them to understand their behavior is like giving a cat a bath- they wiggle and claw at you the whole way through and then sit in your lap and purr when its’ done!

I couldn’t be more proud of the way that they reacted like the good men that I know they are. They did not do the kinds of things that would have been expected by the people who were stirring up this trouble, and no one mouthed off to the administrators who did this to me, and them, even though they are hurt and very angry. I am convinced that this is because many of you helped to pray for them, and I am grateful.

My heart hurts at not being with them, because they are like children without a mother, and I am like a mother who has had her children ripped away. Even though the conditions of working on a cell block were just awful, I loved every minute I spent behind bars with them, and I miss them like my own flesh and blood. I miss the heat, the smell of a thousand dirty men coming in from the yard, the cramped offices and no chairs and the orange paint that rubbed off the railings all over my clothes every day as I stood talking to them about all manner of things to get through.

Please pray that somehow I can continue to work on the outside with these men, as I feel very strongly that I have found a true calling in this work. Pray that I can forgive the unfairness of what happened and lose the battle, but win the war! God help me find a way to continue what YOU started, and thank you, thank you soooooo much for the love I have recieved from these lost men who are found. I feel truly blessed.
 
Please pray that somehow I can continue to work on the outside with these men, as I feel very strongly that I have found a true calling in this work. Pray that I can forgive the unfairness of what happened and lose the battle, but win the war! God help me find a way to continue what YOU started, and thank you, thank you soooooo much for the love I have recieved from these lost men who are found. I feel truly blessed.
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Will keep your hopes in daily prayer. God has a plan.
 
iserve said:
I would like to ask again for your prayers in my situation. I lost my job in prison last week, and tonight my co-workers brought to me the outpouring of love and letters from the men to me. I am almost ashamed to read the beautiful things that they wrote to me, about how much the work I did helped them and put them on a path for change. A good number of them mentioned God and prayer, which was something many of them gave little consideration to in the past (although I did not work for a religious organization they knew I was devoted and went to Mass every Friday at noon.) It was a standing order that I pray for them on my lunch hour!

These were not easy students, as many of them are very violent and play hard with guns and drugs. They are felons in a maximum security facility and have been criminals most of their lives. The work is hard and getting them to understand their behavior is like giving a cat a bath- they wiggle and claw at you the whole way through and then sit in your lap and purr when its’ done!

I couldn’t be more proud of the way that they reacted like the good men that I know they are. They did not do the kinds of things that would have been expected by the people who were stirring up this trouble, and no one mouthed off to the administrators who did this to me, and them, even though they are hurt and very angry. I am convinced that this is because many of you helped to pray for them, and I am grateful.

My heart hurts at not being with them, because they are like children without a mother, and I am like a mother who has had her children ripped away. Even though the conditions of working on a cell block were just awful, I loved every minute I spent behind bars with them, and I miss them like my own flesh and blood. I miss the heat, the smell of a thousand dirty men coming in from the yard, the cramped offices and no chairs and the orange paint that rubbed off the railings all over my clothes every day as I stood talking to them about all manner of things to get through.

Please pray that somehow I can continue to work on the outside with these men, as I feel very strongly that I have found a true calling in this work. Pray that I can forgive the unfairness of what happened and lose the battle, but win the war! God help me find a way to continue what YOU started, and thank you, thank you soooooo much for the love I have recieved from these lost men who are found. I feel truly blessed.
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I have a friend was was a CO. He is now working in security at a hospital. I went on a 5 mile walkathon for an alcohol and drug treatment clinic with my former CO friend. A man who was in jail came up to my friend and hugged him. Jail got him to go straight. My prayers are with the men and women who are in prison/jail and in need of God’s help. Chuck Colson runs a prison ministry to help these men and women. Father God, please help these men and women who are in prison to repent of their sins and turn their lives over to Your care. I ask this in the Name of Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.
 
God bless these men, and all prisoners, that their hearts might be reformed and that they might come to contribute to the lives of others.

It sounds like many of these men have already had their hearts reformed and have indeed contributed to your life…how wonderful!

God bless you, and all those who work with the imprisoned, for the light that they bring into one of the darker corners of our society.

Amen.
 
Father, these men need guidance. They need love that many of them missed as children. They need people like iserve in their lives. Thank you for the blessing of having him near them for so long. We know that you have a plan Father. We want your will to be done here on this earth.
 
Whoever loves his brother lives in the light,and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. I pray with you that GOD’S will for you be done,may we have more saints like you on earth.
 
Praying for you and the prisoners …

Psalm 62 (63)

Thirsting for God

O God, you are my God, I wait for you from the dawn.
My soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you.
I came to your sanctuary,
as one in a parched and waterless land,
so that I could see your might and your glory.
My lips will praise you, for your mercy is better than life itself.

Thus I will bless you throughout my life,
and raise my hands in prayer to your name;
my soul will be filled as if by rich food,
and my mouth will sing your praises and rejoice.
I will remember you as I lie in bed,
I will think of you in the morning,
for you have been my helper,
and I will take joy in the protection of your wings.

My soul clings to you; your right hand raises me up.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
 
You and the prisoners will be in my prayers tonight.

:signofcross:

Hail Mary,
Full of Grace,
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit
of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary,
Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now,
and at the hour of death.
Amen.
 
Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I am definitely gearing up to working in reintegration with the men, especially those with violence issues, in a more conducive environment. In there, staff and inmates are on camera in offices that have windows on every side and the door open at all times. Prison affords no oone any privacy, even toilets are visible to staff and other inmates. It is a ticket if you try to sheild the toilet! In addition, there are listening devices in the offices and the corrections internal police use the information gained to stir up trouble, and sometimes to indict. This is completely unhelpful for someone trying to change, and certainly goes against my notions of what these men need.
If I were to dream big, I would start a grass-roots project by having my own residential program that included classes in anger management and criminal thinking along with moral and social support for the guys as they try to make a new life. I know that probably won’t happen ovenight, but I am looking to start in the transitional housing field as a step. My heart needs to mend from being torn away from the relationships I formed in there, but I am getting stronger and God is rebuilding my confidence. Thank you again for the prayers, they will, in the end, benefit those whom I will grab hold of before they recidivate.
 
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