Father, I'm praying for all those in my immediate and extended family who are married (name them)...

Protect our marriages. May each husband be strong in his faith, yielded to the Lord, loving, kind, and considerate. May they all be men of prayer and students of the Word—in every way the leaders and examples they are meant to be. May they love their wives as they love their own bodies, and may their wives respect and love them. (Matthew 8:5–10; Romans 12:1; John 13:34; Ephesians 4:32; 1 Peter 3:7; Psalm 119:15; Ephesians 5:33)

May each wife be her husband's help and support, the one who makes him complete. Help them all be submissive, strong, God-fearing, generous, and wise. May their husbands have confidence in them as they watch over the household, and may their husbands and children call them blessed. (Genesis 2:18; Ephesians 5:22; Proverbs 31:25, 30b, 20, 26, 27, 28)

May husbands and wives be protected from the evil one, who wants to destroy marriages and disrupt families. Help them to live in the shelter of Your presence, protected under the refuge of Your wings. (John 17:15; 2 Thessalonians 3:3; John 10:10; Psalm 91:1–4, 14–16)

Keep their marriages free from the influence of the world.

In Jesus' name, amen.

- Jim & Kaye Johns

Long warm days...
The pace of life slows...
A time for picnics and rest in the shade...

Lord,
help me to rest a while in the cooling shade of your presence.
Slow down my restless heart and fill me with gentle compassion for all your people.
Amen.

- Author Unknown Appropriate for many faiths

Christian

Merciful God, ease the suffering of all those who seek your comfort from the pain of breast cancer -- their own or that of others. Grant us all a firm assurance of your love, a balm that can protect us from the ravages of fear and pain. Bless those around us who provide support, love, and care to our bodies and souls in need. Strengthen our faith. Give us courage to face our fears and know your love and protection will brush aside the suffering of this life for an eternal life in the glorious presence of your love.

- Beliefnet member caringfriend Appropriate for many faiths

O Lord, holy Father, creator of the universe, author of its laws, you can bring the dead back to life, and heal those who are sick. We pray for our sick brother that he may feel your hand upon him, renewing his body and refreshing his soul. Show to him the affection in which you hold all your creatures.

- Dimma, a seventh century Irish monk Christian

This is the best dowry of hopes, wishes and prayers I would be able to offer:

May God give you the grace of wit and wisdom to understand that rainbows are only the result of showers, dust, and hope.

May you always have joy in the morning and trust in the evening and may your sorrows be short and without scars.

May your lives have a spirit neither bent by belligerence nor broken by failure; may you simply love each other.

May you share with each other spring flowers, dirty dishes, music, rain, death, mushrooms, a measure of boredom, strawberries, and God.

May that God never make you immune to the wonderful afflictions of real love, making you instead farsighted to each other's faults, tongue-tied to criticism, and short of memory to petty hurts and slights.

May God provide the confidence and serenity that comes only from the assurance of each other's fidelity and the tolerance, as years go by, of wrinkles and gray hairs, short tempers, curlers, and Monday mornings.

May no one steal from you laughter at the top of the stairs or giggles and whispers in a dark room.

May you keep a hunger for each other, the appetite to taste tomorrow, and deep knowledge of and devotion to your past, heritage and families.

May you perpetuate trust, the radiation of vitality, kind answers to sharp questions and sharp humor to unkind attitudes.

May your fights be fierce and short, and may each truce be warm and long and held in each other's arms before the sun comes up.

May you walk with wise men, sing loud songs at late hours, share secrets, have healthy children, and provide smiles for lonesome strangers and prayers for those without hope.

May you never forget small things; smiles, birthdays, holding hands, family, old friends, the neglected, and the simplicity of saying please and thank you.

May you keep a warm, generous, and happy house where love is the insulation and God is present. May your children be friends of God's child, Jesus.

May your union bring a smile to the face of the Holy Spirit and may he live in your pots and pans, in your hope and aspirations.

- Author Unknown Appropriate for many faiths

Incline us O God! to think humbly of ourselves, to be saved only in the examination of our own conduct, to consider our fellow-creatures with kindness, and to judge of all they say and do with the charity which we would desire from them ourselves.

- Jane Austen Appropriate for many faiths

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, Who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

- I Timothy 2:1-4, 28 Christian

Blessed art Thou, Lord our God, King of the universe who creates the fruit of the tree.

Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha-olam borei pri ha-etz.

Jewish

Our mothers, Rebekka and Rachel, were betrothed and began new lives at the gently flowing waters of the well.

Our mother Tzipporah gave life to her child Moses in the ever-flowing waters of the Nile.

Our sister Miriam danced for the saving of lives beside the overflowing waters of the Sea of Reeds.

Water is God's gift to living souls, to cleanse us, to purify us, to sustain us, and to renew us.

Moses and Aaron and the priests of Israel washed with cleansing waters before attending to God's service at the altar.

As God separated the waters in the First Creation so do we ask that protecting waters surround this child.

As it is written: " I will sprinkle clean water upon you and you shall be clean. " (Ezekiel 36)

And it is written: " I am a well of living waters, a garden spring, a stream flowing from the heights of Lebanon. " (Song of Songs 4:15)

You are Blessed, O God, Spirit (Sovereign) of the World, who has sanctified us with Your commandments, and commanded us concerning Immersion.

Jewish