Prayers

A selection of prayers from various faith traditions chosen by the chaplains at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

You can write your own prayers either on our new Prayer Tree or in the Intercessions Book both of which are in our Chapel.

God of love,
Stand with us in our time of need.
Watch over our child who is sick,
Look after them in every danger,
And grant them your healing and peace. Amen.

The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you
And be gracious to you;
The Lord turn His face toward you
And give you peace.

(Numbers 6:24–26, NIV)

May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind be ever at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face
And the rain fall softly on your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of his hand.

Oh Lord of mankind, cure his illness;
You are the Healer and nothing can be cured except by you,
through a painless cure.

(Bukhari, vl-10/602, Muslim, vl-4/1721)

You shared life with us: God give eternal life to you.
You gave your love to us: God give his deep love to you.
You gave your time to us: God give his eternity to you.
You gave your light to us: God give everlasting light to you.

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.
This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.
So I said to the Lord,
"You promised me Lord,that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life,
there have only been one set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most, you have not been there for me?"
The Lord replied,"The times when you have seen only one set of footprints,
is when I carried you."
Copyright © 1984 Mary Stevenson, from original 1936 text, All rights reserved

God bless all those that I love;
God bless all those that love me;
God bless all those that love those that I love,
And all those that love those that love me.

God, thank you for giving me another day.
Let me face my troubles today - the big and the small -
with a happy heart filled with your unending love.
Let me appreciate the moments of joy
You send me this day.
Let me see the cares of others
as an opportunity to bring
Your great compassion to those who most need it.

And God, I know that you see and know all things
- all of the world’s loveliness, and all of its harshness, too.
So on this day that you have given me,
I ask that I may bring your joy with me
as I share myself with others.
And I pray that you will be warmed
by the happiness of your children.

Finally, God, let me never forget
that in all things, in gladness or sorrow,
You who are all love and joy and hope
are always by my side. Amen.
(We have included this prayer because our chapel is dedicated to St Christopher.)