Oh God, our Heavenly Father, Thank you for all your many blessings.
In today’s Gospel your Son cries out, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest,” and he asks me to take his yoke, which is easy, and his burden, which is light.
Give me rest today, dear Father, and let me set down the heavy things I have carried in my own strength for far too long.
Your Son tells us that only he truly knows you and only you truly know him, and that he reveals you to little ones, the humble and the meek, and not to the wise of this world.
Make me humble and meek of heart like him, so that I may receive what you have hidden from the proud and revealed to those who trust you simply.
In your first word today, through the prophet Zechariah, you promise a king who comes meek and riding on a donkey, who banishes the chariot and the warrior’s bow and proclaims peace to the nations, whose dominion reaches from sea to sea and to the ends of the earth.
Let that same King reign over my heart and my household today, banish every weapon raised against us, and speak your peace over my life, my family, and this land.
The psalmist sings that you are gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, good to all and compassionate toward all your works, and that you lift up all who are falling and raise up all who are bowed down.
Lift me up where I am falling, Father, and raise up what is bowed down in me and mine.
Paul reminds us today that if your Spirit dwells in us, the Spirit that raised Christ from the dead will give life to our mortal bodies also, and that we are not debtors to the flesh but called to live according to your Spirit.
Put to death in me whatever belongs to the flesh, and fill me instead with your Spirit and your life.
Thank you for the blessings I have already received, and thank you for the blessings still coming toward me, my household, and all I love.
Provide for me, for mine, and for my family with your abundance, your wealth, and your mighty force.
Comfort me and calm every worry, and steady my heart when trouble presses in.
Repair what is tottering, restore what has been broken in body, mind, and spirit, and make me whole again.
Strengthen me with your strength, fill me with your wisdom, and guide me by your light.
Heal me and heal those I love, and let your healing reach far beyond what I can see.
Forgive me my trespasses and my many shortcomings, as I forgive those who trespass against me, and release the burdens I carry so I may walk free.
Keep your hand upon me and my family, and deliver us from all evil.
We also have a silent request.
We offer you a promise of this quiet rest given to someone weary today, some burden eased for another, and we ask that you accept it.
I lift up my family, my friends, and all your children, and I place their needs and their well-being into your care.
Watch over them, provide for them, and draw them close to you.
I surrender myself and all that I am to you, trusting fully in your will.
Bless me, bless my family, and bless all who hope in you.
We pray these things to you our Lord God, through Christ. And It Is So.