As Spirit-filled parents and children, we all need the Spirit’s guidance each day. I prepared this prayer of thanks and petition for mothers based on the characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit as listed in Galatians 5, which was read before the prayer. Although Mother’s Day is not part of the liturgical calendar, it is certainly appropriate to pray specifically for mothers. This prayer could be used as part of the intercessory prayer on Mother’s Day or any other Sunday.
Scripture Reading: Galatians 5:16-23
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we seek your presence as we reflect on being Spirit-filled Christians in this world. We thank and praise you for your gift of the Holy Spirit, who works in the lives of our mothers and our children.
We thank you for the fruit of love. Scripture tells us to love one another as you have loved us. Help us to love our children with the unconditional love you have for us.
We thank you, Lord, for the joys of parenthood … for the newborn baby, for first words, for bedtime prayers, for commitments made to serve you, for spiritual growth and maturity in our children. The joy of the Lord is our strength. Some of us don’t know this joy, Lord. Our joy has been taken away by the unfulfilled desire for children, by miscarriage, or by the loss of a child. Others suffer pain because their parents are now in heaven with you, and they are deeply missed today. Restore joy where there is sorrow and loss.
We long for the peace that transcends understanding. When situations in our children’s lives are uncertain, grant us your peace to guard our hearts and minds. Instill peace in the hearts of mothers who have the overwhelming task of raising a family by themselves. Thank you for your promise to be a father to the fatherless.
We confess that we do not always demonstrate the long-enduring patience with our own children that you show us. Forgive us when we are too demanding and expect too much too soon. Grant patience to those who long for a child. Hear their prayers as you heard the prayers of your servant Hannah.
Thank you for the kindness shown to each of us by our mothers. As our own parents face the difficulties of aging, help us to return kindness to them and honor them as your Word commands.
In a world where evil seems to be everywhere, may we demonstrate the goodness that Christ creates in our hearts. Let our children see us as light in darkness, as salt in a spoiling world, as a shelter in a storm.
For your faithfulness to each of us we give thanks. Thank you for faithful mothers who shared their faith with us—who spent time in prayer and reading Bible stories to us in our early years, teaching us to love and trust you.
Let our gentleness be evident to all who meet us, especially to those who share our home. Let the light of Christ shine in our lives to show our children the way to you.
We admit, Lord, that none of us are perfect parents. No matter how hard we may try on our own, we rely on you to keep us from sin. We cannot control ourselves without your Spirit working in our hearts, renewing us each day.
Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit, loving one another in obedience to Christ.
In our Savior’s name, Amen.