Prayer For The Friends We Miss During These Weeks of Physical Distancing and Social Isolation
As the days have become weeks and one month of social isolation has moved into a second one, we miss time with our friends, don’t we? While most of us have food and shelter and are healthy today, we feel the gap of not seeing and socializing with our friends. It’s great that we can meet in Zoom meetings, and text and post messages. It’s lovely to hear a friendly voice at the other end of the phone but there’s something very strange and just not right about this distancing from our friends that’s required of us right now.
Today while we are missing of our friends, let's focus our prayers on them and ask God to bless them.
We all have friends we don’t know what we’d do without – friends who have been there for us through thick and thin – friends we could turn to when we needed help and they’d be there for us. The Bible got it right when it says:
We are called by God to not just receive the support of friends but to give the same in return – and “pay it forward” to others. We’re to build each other up in our faith, and pray for one another.
God we’re thankful today for all those friends who are and who have been those who’ve guided us and pointed us in the right direction. Thanks for pastors, sponsors, small group leaders, teachers, coaches, those who are a little older than us who were there for us. All these people have helped to shape our character and bring hope and insight and comfort at some point in our journey. We are who we are today because of their positive influence. Bless them Lord, if they are still living, whether they are distant or close to us, whether we continue to have contact with them or our journeys have gone down unique paths. Fill them up with everything they need today. Bring those around them who can support them and encourage them today, we pray.
For that small circle of friends in our life that are the close friends, those we can share our heart with, those who will tell us the truth – even if it is uncomfortable – those we can laugh and cry with – those we don’t mind seeing us in our grubby clothes with our hair doing whatever it is doing. Thank you for these ones we can bring ourselves to when we are feeling put together and when we think we are falling apart. Thanks for those friends who take interest in the things that matter to us, who take time to pay attention to what we’re saying, what we’re doing, what we’re needing. It’s such an honour to be cared for by others and we give you thanks for these good and close friends who care for us.
We thank you for our friends who we gather with in peer groups – maybe a recovery group, a church life group, a reading club, a sports team, a community cultural focused group – there are all kinds of times we gather together for some purpose and those friends give themselves to us and give us a chance to share who we are and what we have with them. Where would we be without them? I can’t even imagine. Thank you for those friends who will pray with us, who will teach us a new skill, who will share with us and give us an arm around the shoulder or a hug when we need it. Thanks for all those who text us and tweet us and message us on social media and whose thoughts come at just the right moment. Thanks for those who are vulnerable with their weaknesses as well as their strengths so we all can find one another and go forward together without anyone being left behind.
Thank you for our work colleagues and friends. Some are close to
us than others. Some we only now begin to realize how much they added not just to the job but to our personal lives as well with who they are and all they shared with us in just the casual “water cooler” moments. Bless them while we are apart. Keep them safe and healthy. Take care of their families and loved ones. Keep them strong and secure, we pray. We pray for an early opportunity to get together with them again and do the work that we all do to make our community better and to offer the service our work place brings.
Thank you God for those who have befriended us when we weren’t all that easy to love and be around. Thank you for their patience, their attention, their support, and their commitment to doing what they could to support us. Help us today to find those in need of our friendship who haven’t quite found themselves yet and suffer in self-pity, addiction, anger, loneliness, and depression. Give us the words to say and the kind things to do to be a hand out to these folks that lifts them up. And as Saint Francis said, “Help us to preach the gospel and when necessary use words.” Give us patience to listen, and listen, and listen some more and to honour others with our caring presence as You’ve done so many times for us.
Most of all, we are grateful for Your friendship God, We would be absolutely hopeless without it. While we were still far from being your friend You reached out to us. While we were still Your enemies You died on the cross for us to pay the price for our sins. You’ve called out to us over and over again when we were going the wrong way because You wanted to protect us and get us safely to where we needed to be. Sometimes we paid attention and sometimes we willfully went our own way. That never stopped You from being there in the next moment, the next situation, the next day. You have stuck with us and You always will.
And so today, we want to respond to Your invitation to live as friends with you. You stand at the door of our life today and ask to be invited in so we can share a meal and time together as friends. Welcome, Lord Jesus.
We love you God. We love being loved by You We want to love you more and be a better friend to You going forward.
Today while we are missing of our friends, let's focus our prayers on them and ask God to bless them.
We all have friends we don’t know what we’d do without – friends who have been there for us through thick and thin – friends we could turn to when we needed help and they’d be there for us. The Bible got it right when it says:
We are called by God to not just receive the support of friends but to give the same in return – and “pay it forward” to others. We’re to build each other up in our faith, and pray for one another.
God we’re thankful today for all those friends who are and who have been those who’ve guided us and pointed us in the right direction. Thanks for pastors, sponsors, small group leaders, teachers, coaches, those who are a little older than us who were there for us. All these people have helped to shape our character and bring hope and insight and comfort at some point in our journey. We are who we are today because of their positive influence. Bless them Lord, if they are still living, whether they are distant or close to us, whether we continue to have contact with them or our journeys have gone down unique paths. Fill them up with everything they need today. Bring those around them who can support them and encourage them today, we pray.
For that small circle of friends in our life that are the close friends, those we can share our heart with, those who will tell us the truth – even if it is uncomfortable – those we can laugh and cry with – those we don’t mind seeing us in our grubby clothes with our hair doing whatever it is doing. Thank you for these ones we can bring ourselves to when we are feeling put together and when we think we are falling apart. Thanks for those friends who take interest in the things that matter to us, who take time to pay attention to what we’re saying, what we’re doing, what we’re needing. It’s such an honour to be cared for by others and we give you thanks for these good and close friends who care for us.
Thank you for our work colleagues and friends. Some are close to
Thank you God for those who have befriended us when we weren’t all that easy to love and be around. Thank you for their patience, their attention, their support, and their commitment to doing what they could to support us. Help us today to find those in need of our friendship who haven’t quite found themselves yet and suffer in self-pity, addiction, anger, loneliness, and depression. Give us the words to say and the kind things to do to be a hand out to these folks that lifts them up. And as Saint Francis said, “Help us to preach the gospel and when necessary use words.” Give us patience to listen, and listen, and listen some more and to honour others with our caring presence as You’ve done so many times for us.
And so today, we want to respond to Your invitation to live as friends with you. You stand at the door of our life today and ask to be invited in so we can share a meal and time together as friends. Welcome, Lord Jesus.
We love you God. We love being loved by You We want to love you more and be a better friend to You going forward.
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