This prayer was inspired by a prayer I recently read based on Matthew 5:1-12.

By Alexandra Anderson, May 2020 

Lord Jesus you say: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven’. Forgive us when we judge and do not bless those who doubt or who still aren’t sure about what they believe. Help us so see those who are spiritually impoverished as those who are not so certain about everything that they no longer take in new information. Help us to bless those who have nothing to offer us.

Lord Jesus you say: ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted’. Forgive us when we do not grieve with those who grieve secretly feeling relieved it didn’t happen to us. Help us instead to say: ‘Blessed are they for whom death in this pandemic is a reality. Blessed are those who have buried their loved ones and who have tasted bitter tears. Blessed are those who could not be at the beside of a loved one love in their final hours and who could not attend their funerals because of Covid 19. Blessed are the mothers who have lost children and the children who have lost parents. Blessed are the ones who cannot fall apart because they have to keep it all together for everyone else. Blessed are the doctors and nurses in the Intensive Care Units and the staff who work on Covid 19 wards in our hospitals. Blessed are the motherless, the lonely, the ones from whom so much has been taken. Blessed are those who still haven’t got over their grief after years and years. Blessed are they who have found joy again when they thought they never would.

Lord Jesus you say, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.’ Forgive us when we are blind to those who no one notices. The laundry people, the delivery drivers and the carers and the hospital cleaners. The security staff and the supermarket shelf-stackers, he postwoman, the homeless guy, the young men who work in the car wash businesses that have sprung up in every town and city and the rubbish collectors. Help us to say: ‘ blessed are the forgotten, the unemployed, the unimpressive and the underrepresented. Blessed are the women who are locked in with their abusers, the teenagers who self-harm and struggle with mental health especially in lock-down’.

Lord Jesus you say: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.’ Forgive us when we look the other way when people are wrongly accused, when we ignore the ones for whom life is hard – for they are the ones with whom you Jesus chose to surround yourself. Help us instead to say: ‘Blessed are those without documents, the ones without advocates, the asylum seekers and refugees. Blessed are the foster children, the children with special needs and every other child in this lockdown period who just wants to feel safe and loved at home and doesn’t’.

Lord Jesus you say: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.’ Forgive us when mercy seems like the weak option and we opt to use our position of strength to dismiss those over whom we have an advantage. Help us to say instead: ‘Blessed are the burnt-out single parents who have to work two jobs to take care of their children, the probation officers and social workers, the teachers of key worker’s children. Blessed are the pro-bono case lawyers, the young people who stand up to the bullies and defend the weak and blessed are the whistle blowers. Blessed is everyone who has the courage to forgive when those who hurt them didn’t deserve it. In Jesus name Amen’.