awake in houses with lights on,
the start of a normal day.
By the next bed, George’s nebulizer hums.
An exhausted nurse at the end of the night
shift takes my blood pressure.
Another approaches to jab a needle
in my stomach.
Two buzzers are going, asking for help.
Only four staff on the whole ward.
I hear the jolly tea ladies coming,
And I need space to think.
Does no one else long to stop
for a minute?
Lord, this is all your world.
These are your people.
Bless them and let them know your
care today.
Trevor Lloyd
*
I have no other helper than you,
no other father,
I pray to you.
Only you can help me.
My present misery is too great.
Despair grips me, and I am at my wit’s end.
O Lord, Creator, Ruler of the World,
Father,
I thank you that you have brought
me through.
How strong the pain was – but you were
stronger.
How deep the fall was – but you were even
deeper.
How dark the night was –but you were
the noonday sun in it.
You are our father, our mother, our brother,
and our friend.
African prayer
*
Thank you, O God, for all the people who have looked after me today; for all those who visited today; for all the letters and the get-well cards; for the flowers and gifts friends have sent.
I know that sleep is one of the best medicines for both the body and the mind. Help me to sleep tonight.
Into your strong hands I place all the patients in this ward; the night staff on duty tonight; my loved ones, whose names I now mention; myself, with my fears, my worries and my hopes.
Help me to sleep, thinking of you and your promises.
Author unknown
*
The light of God surrounds me,
The love of God enfolds me,
The power of God protects me,
The presence of God watches over me,
Wherever I am, God is.
James Dillet Freeman
*
At even, ere the sun was set,
the sick, O Lord, around thee lay;
O in what divers pains they met!
O with what joy they went away!
Once more ’tis eventide, and we
oppressed with various ills draw near;
what if thy form we cannot see?
We know and feel that thou art here.
Henry Twells (1823–1900)
*
Peace to you from God our Father who
hears our cry.
Peace from his Son Jesus Christ whose
death brings healing.
Peace from the Holy Spirit who gives us life
and strength.
The peace of the Lord be always with you.
Common Worship
*
In darkness and in light,
in trouble and in joy,
help us, heavenly Father,
to trust your love,
to serve your purpose,
and to praise your name;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Joint Liturgical Group of Great Britain
THE WORLD OF CARING
Praying for medical staff
Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie – the blind, the lame, the paralysed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?’
John 5.2–6
It’s a strange world of desperate emotions, sober judgements, high-tech procedures, life and death and love. But God is there in it all, recognized and unrecognized. Look for him motivating researchers; breathing wisdom and serenity into troubled minds; pouring love into those whose hands reflect his care; bringing peace to replace anxiety.
Pray for those with difficult decisions to make; those nearing exhaustion; healers who themselves need God’s healing.
*
O Lord Jesus Christ,
who alone hast power over life and death,
over health and sickness,
give
