Lord, I pray today for the people who care for men and women with Alzheimer’s disease. You know how hard their work is, how scant their resources, and how heavy their burdens. Perhaps tending to the needs of a stranger, perhaps caring tirelessly for a loved one they have known for years, their hearts are, at times, filled with sorrow and at other times delighted by the glimmers of who once was but is no more. Indeed, the person they care for is slipping away, unable to be what they once were or act as they once did, and this makes the life of the caregiver that much more difficult.

Please, Lord, be close by when these caregivers need your comfort and strength. Fill their hearts with your goodness and solace, and their souls with love. Help them to find ways to rest and take care of themselves. And let them be heartened each day, lifted each day, and loved each day as they love the person who is no longer as they once were, but who is nonetheless your child, worthy of dignity and respect.

I pray this in Jesus’ name,

Amen

Maureen Pratt