05/10/2026
A Mother's Day Prayer
Hosea 11:3–4:
Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk;
I took them up in my arms,
but they did not know that I healed them.
I led them with cords of human kindness,
with bands of love.
I was to them like those
who lift infants to their cheeks.
I bent down to them and fed them.
God who is to us both Mother and Father,
We remember together that all tender mercy,
attentive nurture,
loving affection,
and patient care
find their souce in You.
God-beyond-binaries:
we thank you for the full kaleidoscope of your being.
You are both strong and tender,
fierce and gentle,
wise and playful.
We praise You for those who reflect Your mothering qualities.
For the ways we have received Your goodness through our mothers,
we thank You.
For all those who have nurtured us in gentle strength,
we give You praise.
For the memory and witness
of generations of mothers who have come before us,
we glorify You.
For the honor of nurturing
those in our care,
we give thanks to You.
We turn to You now this Mother’s Day and pray:
May Your blessing and goodness be magnified
in the lives of our mothers who are living.
May Your sustaining grace uphold those among us
who are in the midst of mothering.
May Your comfort and blessing draw near to those here
who pray to and hope to become mothers.
May you affirm and encourage all those
who nurture and care for others.
Gracious God,
Every role that carries significance
also involves sorrow.
Today we pray for those
whose lives have been marked by grief
in the realm of motherhood.
We pray for those who have experienced infertility or pregnancy loss.
We pray for mothers who have lost children,
And for those who have lost their moms.
We pray for mothers whose relationships with their children are complex, and for those among us whose relationships with their mothers are challenging or broken.
In Your great mercy,
hear our prayer
and bring healing to these wounds we’ve named.
We pray for foster and adoptive mothers,
We pray for the biological mothers of children
in foster care or who have been adopted.
We pray for mothers whose children have complex needs.
We pray for mothers who continue to provide care
in the midst of their own mental or physical health challenges.
In Your great mercy,
hear our prayer
and let Your goodness be known by those we’ve named.
We turn our prayerful attention now
to mothers around the world:
For mothers who have reason
to fear for their children’s safety,
For mothers who experience poverty and injustice,
For mothers whose work is unacknowledged and undervalued,
For mothers who are trying to raise their children in the way of peace while surrounded by conflict or violence.
Lord, hear our prayer.
For fleeing, displaced, and refugee mothers,
For mothers who have lost children to war or violence,
For mothers who can’t see their way
to a good future for their children,
For mothers who go without
in order make sure their children have what they need,
Lord, hear our prayer.
Our God who is to us like one who lifts
an infant to her cheeks,
pour out Your tender mercy
so that mothers and children
and all those who shield the vulnerable
and nurture growing things
may not be disappointed.
Give us each the strength to follow Christ
in participating in Your answer to these prayers.
And for those things that are beyond our power,
We ask for Your Divine intervention.
We long for the world to be a place
that is safe and gentle
for all those who mother
and those who receive mothering care.
May it be so.
Come again, Lord Jesus.
Amen
