Prayers for the World Day of Remembrance for Road Crash Victims
Introduction for a Service
We have come together with a common purpose, to remember those who have been killed on our roads, and those who have been injured in body and mind.
In bringing our remembrance before God, we seek his gift of hope.
Let us also have in our minds and hearts all who use the roads, and especially the men and women who work for their safety and well-being, and those who devote themselves to rescue and healing.
Prayer specially composed for Road Peace by Donald Macarthur
Lord, God, your love is freely available to all your children, who stand in equal need of your care. Fill us, gathered here today, with your grace and truth, that in all our dealings with one another we may demonstrate that we are members of one family in your sight. We lift up to you in our intercessions those who, for good or ill, use the roads in our country.
We pray for those who have suffered injury as a result of a road crash; those who have suffered permanent injury, and those who care for them; those who have lost confidence and who are unable to use the roads without anxiety; those who grieve for a loved one who has died in a road calamity. Loving God, use us as we are able to comfort and support those who suffer; and what we cannot do for them be pleased yourself to do so that in the mystery of your love they may find peace, and healing and faith.
Lord hear us, Lord graciously hear us
We pray for those who tend to be careless in the way that they use the roads and their vehicles. Give them an insight into the risk and danger into which they put other road users through their lack of thought and consideration for the safety of others. Protect them from the agony of knowing that their negligence has brought about injury or death of another person.
We pray for those who build vehicles and those who design and build our roads that they may have the highest objectives in their work. Guide them, and all those whose work is to make our roads safe, with wisdom and understanding, that through their efforts they may achieve the greatest possible measure of safety for all those who use our roads.
Lord hear us, Lord graciously hear us
Almighty God, you have put into our hearts that our human duty is to love you and our neighbour as ourself. Give to us, and to all who use the roads, consideration and care for other road users. Grant to those who drive vehicles consideration for others and a determination to avoid driving in ways which could be a danger to others. Give to those who walk or cycle on the roads and those who play beside them thoughtful caution and care. We pray for those who are travelling today whether by land or sea or in the air. Give them protection on the way and a safe arrival at their destination.
We pray that you will prosper the work of RoadPeace and those who work and support its efforts to make our roads safe for everyone. Make them wise when they speak and prophetic in the life of our nation, as they bring judgement to bear on things that are unjust and destructive of people’s lives. Lord protect our children; protect the strong; protect the elderly and the infirm; protect the nation.
Lord hear us, Lord graciously hear us
We pray for those who have no peace, the anxious, the frightened, the neglected and the despairing, and for those whose lives have been deprived of home, livelihood and health by insensitive brutality and carelessness of others.
We pray for ourselves, that we may be given grace to share your loving care for us through the attention we can give to others. May we respect the persons you have made without trying to impose our own ideas on them. Help us to praise you in their journeying and to recognise your presence in their lives.
Lord hear us, Lord graciously hear us
Jewish Prayer
In the rising of the sun and in its going down we remember them;
In the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter we remember them;
In the opening of the buds and in the warmth of summer we remember them;
In the rustling of the leaves and the beauty of the autumn we remember them;
In the beginning of the year and when it ends, we remember them;
When we are weary and in need of strength, we remember them;
When we have joys we yearn to share, we remember them.
So long as we live, they too shall live for they are now a part of us as we remember them.
Jewish Reform Prayer Book ‘Gate of Prayer’
Benson’s Prayer after a Crushing Bereavement
‘And lastly to me who am left to mourn his departure, grant that I may not sorrow as one without hope for my beloved who sleeps in Thee; but that, always remembering his courage and the love that united us on earth, I may begin again with new courage to serve Thee more fervently who art the only source of true love and true fortitude;
that when I have passed a few more days in this valley of tears and in this shadow of death, supported by Thy rod and staff, I may see him again, face to face in those pastures and amongst those waters where, I trust, he already walks with Thee. Oh Shepherd of the Sheep, have pity on this darkened soul of mine.’
The Motorist’s Prayer
Grant me a ready hand, a watchful eye,
That none may suffer hurt as I pass by.
Thou givest life — I pray no act of mine
May take away or mar that gift of thine.
Should those, dear Lord, who bear me company.
From fools and fire and all calamity.
Teach me to use my car for others’ need,
Nor miss through lack of wit or love of speed,
The beauty of Thy world —that this I may,
With joy and courtesy go on my way.
Geraldine Binnall
Encompassing Presence
Ever present shield, your canopy of stars covers us. We sense your encompassing presence in the thrill of beauty, in the urgent claims of the poor and deep within our hearts The poverty of our response.
O God of the living bring us to our knees. Spirit of Comfort we search for you in the wakeful dead of night, in the surge of bitter loneliness, in the pain of death’s betrayal and in the smoking fires of nations at war.
Shield and Friend and Comforter, encompass us with your presence: go before us, be beside us move within us and around us. Be present, Trinity of Peace until our journey is ended and we see you face to face.
Kate McIlhagga
Prayer for the Sorrowing
We bring to God all that is in our hearts. Our griefs and sorrows are with us now, and our feelings too deep for words.
To God whom Jesus revealed to us as our loving Father, we offer praise and thanks, with our tears and questions.
For he is the Helper of the helpless, the Seeker of the lost, the Saviour of all who reach out to him in faith.
Prayer from the Book of Common Order
O Lord Our God,
Who art in every place and from whom no space of distance can ever part us;
Take into thy holy keeping those from whom we are separated, and grant that both they and we, by drawing nearer to thee, may be drawn nearer to one another, in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Closing Prayer by Robert Louis Stevenson
Help us with the grace of courage when we sit lamenting amid the ruins of our happiness or our integrity; touch us with fire from the altar, that we may be up and doing to rebuild our city: in the name and in the method of Him in whose words of prayer we now conclude –
Our Father, who art in Heaven …..