Prayer for mothers

LAST FRIDAY, at the funeral for Carmen Campbell held at the Webster Memorial United Church, Courtney Campbell, son of the deceased, offered a prayer of adoration and thanksgiving. This novel prayer, in a funeral service, was a mandate from the deceased mother to her 55-yearold son, Courtney, who is a leader at Webster, and president and CEO of Victoria Mutual. Courtney obediently obliged.

Concomitantly, a few days earlier, a young member of Boulevard Baptist Church, Shantika Brown, asked that prayers be offered for women in the context of the deaths and abuse.

Hence, as we approach another Mother’s Day, this prayer is being offered

using extracts from the Campbell’s prayer.

As we pray we ought to acknowledge that God is eternal, meaning, He has always been and will always be. He is the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. There is none like God in terms of holiness and glory. God is also the Creator; everything seen and unseen was made by God, including the Black Hole. God’s creative ability is like no other, being meaning that He can speak things into being. God alone can call those things which are not as though they were (Romans 4:17). God is a good God, because He uses His power to ‘provide for us everything for our good’. God appeared as flesh and offered His life so that humans can experience an abundant, rich, full and purposeful life, in a word salvation. He looked beyond the faults of mothers and forgave all sins and failures. Indeed, God should be adored.

And so we pray for mothers of Jamaica. We thank God for the gift called mothers, whether biological, guardians, church mothers, surrogate mothers and mothers through adoption. We thank God for mothers – their love, warmth and caring ways. For so many mothers who have gone the extra mile and made sacrifices for their children can flourish and have a life of peace and prosperity. We thank God for mothers who have been channels of blessing to guide us ‘on the values of integrity, hard work, humility and excellence’. We thank God for mothers who cared for their husbands and were faithful to their marital vows.

And as Courtney further prayed, “Thank, you Lord, that You used her [mothers] to encourage all of us in dark times.”

Lord, we pray for mothers with serious illnesses and who are facing critical condition with humility and grace. Grant strength to overcome these setbacks and grace to endure these hardships.

We pray for the families of those who are mourning because of senseless and gruesome killings. We remember the family of 74-year-old Evelyn Blair of Lima; 11-yearold Trisha Morris from Woodland, Hanover, who left home for church and was killed; eight-year-old Shantae Skyers, who was slaughtered at Sterling Castle, and so many others. Grant to the families peace which is beyond human understanding. Remove the desire for revenge. Grant wisdom to the investigators to bring these promoters and producers of violence to justice. We pray that these persons who are engaging in such evil will repent and follow godly ways.

We thank God that it is not in this life alone (that) we have hope, but through the power of the resurrection. You have provided life after death. We thank you, Lord, that good will triumph over evil and truth over lies. Amen.

PS. Thank God for my mother, Cynthia; my big sister, Roenna, who mothered me for five years during Calabar days; and all my other mothers. Thank God for all readers who are mothers. Happy Mother’s Day. Rev Devon Dick is pastor of the Boulevard Baptist Church in St Andrew. He is author of ‘The Cross and the Machete’, and ‘Rebellion to Riot’. Send feedback to columns@ gleanerjm.com