Prayers

Oh God, Giver of Life
Stewardship Prayer

Oh Lord, giver of life and source of our freedom, we are reminded by the Psalmist that Yours is “the earth and its fullness; the world and those who dwell in it.”

We know that it is from your hand that we have received all we have, and are, and will be. Gracious and loving God, we understand that You call us to be the stewards of Your abundance, the caretakers of all You have entrusted to us.

Help us always to use Your gifts wisely and teach us to share them generously. May our faithful stewardship bear witness to the love of Christ in our lives. We pray with grateful hearts, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Fill Us With Your Truth and Love
Stewardship Prayer

Lord God,

You alone are the source of every gift, of the vast array of our universe, and of the mystery of each human life. We praise You and we thank You for Your great power and Your tender, faithful Love.

Everything we are and everything we have is Your gift, and after having created us, You have given us into the keeping of Your Son, Jesus Christ.

Fill our hearts with Christ’s truth and our hearts with His love, that in His Spirit we may be bonded together into a community of faith, a parish family, a caring people.

In the Name and Spirit of Jesus, we commit ourselves to be good stewards of the gifts entrusted to us, to share our time, our talent and our material gifts as an outward sign of the treasure we hold in Jesus. Amen.

We Thank You for Our Many Blessings
Stewardship Prayer

God, Creator and Giver of all that is good, we thank you for our many blessings. Mindful of your generosity, we acknowledge that all that we have is from you. Daily, we offer you thanks and praise for the beauty of the earth, our work, our family and our loved ones.

In the dawning of a new day, You are with us. In each dark hour, You are here. Blessed by Your grace, we show gratitude by sharing what we have. By serving our brothers and sisters, we serve You.

As You protect and guide us on our journey, we, Your stewards, remain ever grateful for Your constant love. Amen.

Life is Your Gift
Stewardship Prayer

Creator God, Life is Your gift to me.

Through Baptism, You invite me to share the gift of my life in service to others. Be with me as I choose each day to show Your Presence in our world. Give me the courage and generosity to respond to Your love, to Your call.

I pray especially for those who serve You in ministry throughout [Name of Parish]. May we bear the “Good News” to those in need. Keep us close to You.

Open the minds and hearts of many other men, women and young people that they may accept Your challenge to build the Kingdom in our parish, our community and our world.

For if not us, who?
If not here, where?
If not now, when?
If not for Your Kingdom, why?

We make this prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Taken from U.S. Bishops’ Pastoral Letter
"Stewardship: A Disciple’s Response"

Stewardship Prayer for Children
Stewardship Prayer

Dear Jesus,

I thank you for everything You have given me.
My gifts of time and talents are precious gifts, enable me to use them to do Your will.

I offer you this day all my words, actions and good intentions to reflect my love for You and my neighbor.

Please help me realize that I need to share these gifts and all my gifts with the Church and others, help me to be generous, patient, forgiving and holy. Amen.

Stewardship, A Way of Life
Prayer Service

PRESIDER: Let us pray that we will make stewardship a way of Life with God.

PART A: Because of our faith in You, O Lord, we acknowledge You as the source of all we have and all we are.

PART B: Help us place You, our loving Creator, first in our lives by becoming more prayerful, more focused on loving and caring for our families and our neighbors in need, and by becoming less preoccupied with material things.

PART A: Help us, Lord, find the true source of happiness and fulfillment that we all seek and that You, alone, can provide.

PART B: Help us to hear Your call to be good stewards, caretakers, and managers of all Your gifts by sharing them for Your purposes.

PART A: Help us make Your priorities our priorities.

PART B: Help us challenge each other, as disciples of Jesus Christ, to put our faith into action.

PRESIDER: Let us pray that as good stewards we will plan our sharing.

PART A: As we plan the things in our lives that are most important to us, Lord, help us plan our sharing of time with those in need.

PART B: Help us plan how to “give back” the talents with which we have been blessed.

PART A: Help us plan how to share our treasure to do Your work.

PART B: Our planning and sharing demonstrates the great importance that You and the truth of the Gospel has in our lives.

PART A: Help us plan to serve our church, our community, and our world with Your Gifts.

PRESIDER: Let us pray that we will share in proportion to what has been given us.

PART B: Help us, Lord, return a portion of all You have given us.

PART A: We do this, O Lord, as a sign of our love and in thanksgiving for the many blessings we have received.

PART B: We offer not only the “first fruits” of our financial resources, but a generous portion of our time and talents as well.

PART A: Giving proportionately means it is equal for all of us according to what You have given us. You ask the same of each of us.

PART B: As we give proportionately, help us to put our trust, security and faith in You.

PART A: As good Christian Stewards, we pray we have a joyful spirit of mind and heart.

(These prayers are reprinted with permission from the publication, “A Treasury of Private Prayers For the Christian Steward,” compiled by the International Catholic Stewardship Council.)

ELW

Stewardship of Creation

Almighty God, Lord of heaven and earth, we humbly pray that your gracious providence may give and preserve to our use the fruitfulness of the land and the seas; and may prosper all who labor therein, that we, who are constantly receiving good things from your hand, may always give you thanks, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Or

Merciful Creator, your hand is open wide to satisfy the needs of every living creature. Make us always thankful for your living providence; and grant that we, remembering the account that we must one day give, may be faithful stewards of your good gifts, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Stewardship of natural resources

Almighty God, in giving us dominion over things on the earth, you made us coworkers in your creation. Give us wisdom and reverence to use the resources of nature so that no one may suffer from our abuse of them, and that generations yet to come may continue to praise you for your bounty; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Renewal of mind and body

O God, we thank you for times of refreshment and peace in the course of this busy life. Grant that we may so use our leisure for the renewal of our bodies and minds that our spirits may be opened to the goodness of your creation; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

The proper use of wealth

O God, in your love you have given the people of this land gifts of abundance beyond what our forebears knew or could imagine. Mercifully grant that we may not be so occupied with material things that we forget spiritual gifts, and thus, even though we have gained the whole world, lose our souls; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

The proper use of wealth

God of abundance, you have poured out a large measure of earthly blessings: our table is richly furnished, our cup overflows, and we live in safety and security. Teach us to set our hearts on you and not these material blessings. Keep us from becoming captivated by prosperity, and grant us in wisdom to use your blessings to your glory and to the service of humankind; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.