An Evening Prayer of Thanks for Everyone Who Has Loved Me

Loving God, tonight I remember
the people who have loved me.

The ones who fed me and kept me warm
when I was too small to say thank you.
The teacher who believed I could.
The friend who stayed when it was hard.
The ones who loved me when I wasn't easy to love.

Some are still near, and I can tell them.
Some are far away.
Some are gone from this life,
and I miss them more than I can say.

Bless all of them, Lord.
The ones I can still thank,
remind me to thank them soon.
The ones I can't,
I place gently in Your keeping.

Behind all their love was Yours.
You loved me first,
and You love me still.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

When to Pray This

Pray this in the evening, perhaps with an old photograph or a letter in your hands. Pause at each line and let a face or a name come to you. If one of them is someone you can still thank, call or write to them soon.

A Verse to Hold On To

"We love because He first loved us." — 1 John 4:19 (BSB)