to Be Not Afraid

Carry Your Cross

Take up your cross, the Savior said,
If you would my disciple be;
Deny yourself, the world forsake,
And humbly follow after me.

Take up your cross, let not its weight
Fill your weak spirit with alarm;
His strength shall bear your heart
And nerve your arm.

Take up your cross then in his strength,
And ev'ry danger calmly brave,
To guide you to a better home,
And vict'ry over death and grave.

Take up your cross and follow Christ,
Nor think till death to lay it down;
For only he who bears the cross
May hope to wear the glorious crown.

To you, great Lord, the One in three,
All praise for evermore ascend;
O grant us here below to see
The heav'nly life that knows no end.

~~by Charles William Everest

Prayer of Resignation in Suffering

Merciful Lord of life, I lift up my heart to You in my suffering, and ask for your comforting help. I know that You would withhold the thorns of this life, if I could attain eternal life without them. So, I throw myself on your mercy, resigning myself to this suffering. Grant me the grace to bear it and to offer it in union with your sufferings. No matter what suffering may come my way, let me always trust in You. Amen.

Prayer to Accept Suffering

O my Lord Jesus Christ, I believe...that nothing great is done without suffering, without humiliation, and that all things are possible by means of it. I believe, O my God, that poverty is better than riches, pain better than pleasure, obscurity and contempt than name, and ignominy and reproach than honor....
O my dear Lord, though I am so very weak that I am so very weak that I am not fit to ask for suffering as a gift, and have not strength to do so, at least I would beg of your grace to meet suffering well, when You in your wisdom lay it upon me. Amen.

Prayer of Offering of Suffering

Heavenly Father, You created me and most lovingly care for me. I accept all my sufferings most willingly, and as a truly obedient child I resign myself to your holy will. Grant me the strength to accept generously your loving visitation, and never let me grieve your faithful heart by giving in to impatience and discouragement. I offer you all my pains; and in order that they may be acceptable to You and fruitful for my salvation I unite them with the most bitter pains of your beloved Son Jesus. Amen.

Another Prayer of Offering of Suffering

My Divine Saviour, Jesus, You loved me to such a degree as to suffer and die for my salvation. Through the love I have for You, I most willingly offer to your honor all that I have ever suffered in the past, am now suffering, or will suffer in the future. This is the basis and motive of the love which animates me. Your love enables me to suffer with joy. I will to suffer because You suffered and because You want me to suffer, for I love You more than myself. Amen.

Prayer to Suffer in Union with Jesus

Dear Jesus, for love of You I desire to suffer all things, because for love of me You endured such cruel torments. O my Jesus, I unite my pains with the ones which You suffered and I make an offering of them to your eternal Father. O my Jesus, out of the abundance of your divine goodness give me the virtues of meekness and patience, so that I may willingly carry my cross after You. Amen.

Prayer to Suffer in Silence

Lord Jesus Christ, grant me the grace to be kind and gentle in all the events of my life. Let me put self aside and think of the happiness of others. Teach me to hide my little pains and disappointments so that I may be the only one who suffers for them. Let me learn from the suffering that I must endure. May I so use it as to become mellow rather than embittered, patient rather than irritable, and forgiving rather than overbearing. Amen.

Prayer of Acceptance of Sickness

Heavenly Father, I desire to accept this sickness from your hands and to resign myself to your will, whether it be for life or for death. Help me to be faithful to my desire and give me the courage to carry it out. Amen.

Prayer for Help in Time of Sickness

Lord Jesus Christ, Incarnate Son of God, for our salvation You willed to be born in a stable, to endure poverty, suffering and sorrow throughout your life, and finally to experience the bitter death of the cross.
I beg You to say to your Father on my behalf: "Father, forgive him/her."
At my death, say to me: "This day you shall be with me in paradise."
And let me throw myself on your mercy: "Into your hands, I commend my spirit." Amen.

O my most sweet Jesus, I ask You for the most perfect love: love of the cross. Not of those heroic crosses whose splendor only feeds my self-love, but of those daily crosses of which life is full and which we meet every hour on our journey: contradictions, feeling left to one side, failure, prejudice, the coldness and impatience of some, the refusals and contempt of others, bodily ills, mental darkness, the silence and the dryness of our hearts. When these things happen to me it is only then that You will know that I love You--even if I do not know it myself or feel it. Crosses, my Lord, with no "buts" and no exceptions! In me and in everything that concerns me, let Your Will be perfectly done. Make my heart be courageous enough to suffer, to bear patiently, even to love what disgusts me. And not to complain. Amen.

~Fr. Alberione, founder of the Pauline Family Religious Society of Priests

For All Who Suffer

That it may please thee to visit the lonely; to strengthen all who suffer in mind, body, and spirit; and to comfort with thy presence those who are failing and infirm, We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord. That it may please thee to support, help, and comfort all who are in danger, necessity, and tribulation, We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

Surround Me With Your Light

Surround me with your light, Jesus, and penetrate the very depths of my being with that light. Let there remain no areas of darkness in me or in my family members, but transform our whole being with the healing light of your love. Open me completely to receive your love, Jesus. Thank you for being our family healer and my personal healer.

~~Author Unknown

For Those Who Suffer with Emotional Illness

Lord Jesus, Your healing extends to the depths of our mysterious being. Remember the sufferings of those who are afflicted with emotional disorder. Help them to understand themselves, help others to understand them. In their agony of fear or anger, sadness or despair, confusion, withdrawal, loneliness, or loss of self-esteem, may they find the grace to trust You, to let You love them through the ministry of friends, and to appreciate the beauty and the value of their persons. Free them, lead them to peace, bless them with truth and reality. Amen.

~~ from "Prayers for Today," published by Leaflet Missal Co.

A Prayer to Our Lady in Time of Suffering

Holy Virgin Mary, you are reigning in glory, with Jesus, your Son.
Remember us in our sadness. Look kindly on all who are suffering
or fighting against any difficulty.
Have pity on those who are separated from someone they love.
Have pity on the loneliness of our hearts.
Have pity on the weakness of our faith and love.
Have pity on those who are weeping, on those who are praying, on those who are fearful.
Holy Mother, please obtain for all of us hope and peace with justice.
Amen.

PRAYER WHEN SUFFERING

Jesus, speak to me in these days of suffering to reveal to me, the will of God. "You have kept count of my tossing; put my tears in your bottle." (Psalm 56:8). "This I know, that God is for me" (Psalm 56:9). Come to my help soon. Cut short the days of suffering. Deliver me from the present adversities. Grant me long life and health to praise You in peace. Lift me up to become a witness for You. Thank You Jesus. Praise You Jesus. Hallelujah.

(Praise God for 5 minutes to know the will of God in your sufferings. Thus you will receive the strength and grace to suffer. God willing, you will get immediate deliverance.)

In our hour of weakness, Lord, soften our hearts, pierce through our anger and tears and self-righteousness and guilt and fear, that we may lift our eyes to that hill where comes our help, to that place, where weakened and bleeding and walking through your own shadow of the valley of death, you bought life for all of us who will answer your call.

Lord, be this day with those of us who are facing the death of all we have loved, as we paw through the rubble of our lives with bleeding hands, searching in grief and sadness. Open the doors we need, and in our unconsolable moment, hold us tight in the palm of your hand.

And may those of us this day blessed not to be suffering under the burden of crisis, hear your call to be your hands, and feet, and voice and respond as you would have us do. Amen.

Why God Gives US Problems

Hope this will help you to see opportunities behind the threats! Why God Gives Us Problem? LIFE IS A SERIES OF PROBLEM-SOLVING OPPORTUNITIES.

1. God uses problems to DIRECT you.
2. God uses problems to INSPECT you.
3. God uses problems to CORRECT you.
4. God uses problems to PROTECT you.
5. God uses problems to PERFECT you.

The problems you face will either defeat you or develop you -- depending on how you respond to them. Unfortunately most people fail to see how God wants to use problems for good in their lives. They react foolishly and resent their problems rather than pausing to consider what benefit they might bring. Here are five ways God wants to use the problems in your life:

1. God uses problems to DIRECT you. Sometimes God must light a fire under you to get you moving. Problems often point us in a new direction and motivate us to change. Is God trying to get your attention? "Sometimes it takes a painful situation to make us change our ways." Proverbs 20:30

2. God uses problems to INSPECT you. People are like tea bags ... if you want to know what's inside them, just drop them into hot water! Has God ever tested your faith with a problem? What do problems reveal about you?"When you have many kinds of troubles, you should be full of joy, because you know that these troubles test your faith, and this will give you patience." James 1:2-3

3. God uses problems to CORRECT you. Some lessons we learn only through pain and failure. It's likely that as a child your parents told you not to touch a hot stove. But you probably learned by being burned. Sometimes we only learn the value of something ... health, money, a relationship... by losing it. "It was the best thing that could have happened to me, for it taught me to pay attention to your laws." Psalm 119:71-72

4. God uses problems to PROTECT you. A problem can be a blessing in disguise if it prevents you from being harmed by something more serious. Last year a friend was fired for refusing to do something unethical that his boss had asked him to do. His unemployment was a problem, but it saved him from being convicted and sent to prison a year later when management's actions were eventually discovered."You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good."
Genesis 50:20

5. God uses problems to PERFECT you. Problems, when responded to correctly, are character builders. God is far more interested in your character than our comfort. Your relationship to God and your character are the only two things you're going to take with you into eternity. "We can rejoice when we run into problems ... they help us learn to be patient. And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady." Romans 5:3-4

Here's the point: God is at work in your life even when you do not recognize it or understand it. But it's much easier and profitable when you cooperate with Him!

~~by Mena Haryanto

Stepping Stones

The Lord came to me like a dream one day and asked, "Why do you sorrow?"
I answered, "Lord, my life is so full of pain, I can't face one more tomorrow."

The Lord sat down beside me, and gently took my hand.
He said, "Let me explain to you and then you'll understand.

Each sorrow is a stepping stone you must surmount each day,
And every stepping stone you climb is a sorrow that's passed away.

The road of life is a mountainside, with crevices in which to be caught,
But as you struggle on your way, I, the Rock, will lend support.

Every stepping stone you climb, makes spirit and heart grow strong.
Exercising character and faith this road seems painful and long.

The way is paved with stepping stones, to uplift your heart and soul,
Though difficult, they aid your way, to a City paved with gold.

I know that you are tired, for I too have walked this way,
My sorrows did they multiply, but I cleared the stones away.

I left my rock to lift you up, I left behind my story.
To give you strength to make your climb, to that special place in glory.

And never fear, the Rock is here, You'll never climb alone
Surmount life's sorrows, continue on, For they are but stepping stones.

~~ author unknown

He Catches Our Tears In His Hands

There are seasons of life that yield so much pain
that even God's children might doubt He is there.
For the trial is long and they've shed many tears
while sobbing in the midst of their prayers.

Yet, God loves us so much...even in our deep pain
and He's listening to every word that we say.
He sees the heartache, knowing all we endure
and every unspoken prayer we might pray.

He's so near to the broken hearts, who carry such sorrow
and His silence means He's letting us speak.
For He's still the God who listens...like a Father to His children
every time that we earnestly seek.

And God knows there's a time for everything on earth
a time for mourning...lament...or great sorrow.
Just as sure as the day comes when the burden is lifted
and His joy brings the sunrise tomorrow.

He treasures every time His children lift their faces
to the heavens for His gracious relief.
For His Spirit gives the comfort & courage to go on
when souls are tired from the load of their grief.

Despite any doubts we might have in our weakness & struggles
and all the miles where we don't understand,
Our Father is still listening as every teardrop falls
and He catches each one in His hands.

~~ Author Unknown

Pray the Way of the Cross!

See also Prayers in Time of Sickness

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02/05/2006