God of grace and love, we pray for your richest blessing upon all mothers:

Loving God, we thank you that Jesus enjoyed a mother’s love and grew up within a family.
Thanks be to God!

We thank you for the homes where we were born and for the care and affections of our mothers.
Thanks be to God!

We thank you if we are still privileged to enjoy the warmth and security of family life.
Thanks be to God!

We pray for all mothers today:
For expectant mothers, especially those awaiting the birth of their first child:
We pray to you, O Lord.

For those who have young children and who get tired and harassed with so much to do:
We pray to you, O Lord.

For those with difficult homes, whose children are more of a problem than a blessing:
We pray to you, O Lord.

For those with difficult partners, who find it hard to be constant and loving:
We pray to you, O Lord.

For those who find it hard to make ends meet, or who go short for the sake of their families:
We pray to you, O Lord.

For those who are nearly at the end of their tether:
We pray to you, O Lord.

For those who are anxious because their children are growing up and seem to be growing away from them:
We pray to you, O Lord.

For those who feel a sense of emptiness as their children marry and leave home:
We pray to you, O Lord.

For those who are elderly and may feel unwanted:
We pray to you, O Lord.

For those who have no partner to share their responsibilities–the widowed, the divorced, the single mother:
We pray to you, O Lord.

For those who have been denied the privilege of motherhood, those who cannot have children of their own, and those who have never had the opportunity to find partnership with another:
We pray to you, O Lord.

For those who mourn the loss of their children, or who have never been able to conceive:
We pray to you, O Lord.

For foster and adoptive mothers, and for all those who answer the phone and agree to take a child into their house on a moment’s notice.
We pray to you, O Lord.

Lastly, we pray for those closest to us; may we love and care for them as we ourselves have been loved and helped.  We ask it for your love’s sake. Amen.