PRAYER OF GENERAL THANKSGIVING

Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have done for us. We thank you for the splendor of the whole creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life, and for the mystery of love. <P>

We thank you for the blessing of family and friends, and for the loving care which surrounds us on every side.<P>

We thank you for setting us at tasks which demand our best efforts, and for leading us to accomplishments which satisfy and delight us.<P>

We thank you also for those disappointments and failures that lead us to acknowledge our dependence on you alone.<P>

Above all, we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ; for the truth of his Word and the example of his life; for his steadfast obedience, by which he overcame temptation; for his dying, through which he overcame death; and for his rising to life again, in which we are raised to the life of your kingdom.<P>

Grant us the gift of your Spirit, that we may know him and make him known; and through him, at all times and in all places, may give thanks to you in all things. Amen.

For the Gift of a Child

Heavenly Father, you sent you own Son into this world. We thank you for the life of this child, N., entrusted to our care. Help us to remember that we are all your children, and so to love and nurture him, that he may attain to that full stature intended for him in your eternal kingdom; for the sake of your dear Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For the Restoration of Health

Almighty God and heavenly Father, we give thee humble thanks because thou hast been graciously pleased to deliver from his sickness thy servant N., in whose behalf we bless and praise thy Name. Grant, O gracious Father, that he, through thy help, may live in this world according to thy will, and also be partaker of everlasting glory in the life to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.