Pray with us
How you can pray with us
Prayer is central to all that we do. We would love you to be involved in the prayer life of The Leprosy Mission. Each year we produce the ASK Prayer Diary, which provides a global overview of The Leprosy Mission’s work. You can view the ASK Prayer Diary week by week below, download a PDF of the full year, or request a printed booklet.
You can also follow our prayer life through the PrayerMate app, where we provide daily prayer requests for the work to defeat leprosy delivered direct to your phone. Get involved with PrayerMate here.
Monday
Be still and know that I am God." (Psalm 46.10). Being still can be hard when we are anxious or upset. Caring for people affected by leprosy means offering emotional support as well as practical care. Pray that all staff have the time and the resources they need to listen with patience and compassion so they can bring stillness to anxious hearts
Tuesday
When Jesus and his disciples were in a boat in a storm, he not only calmed the 'outer storm' (the wind and waves) but also calmed the 'inner storm' (the disciples' fear). As our teams deal with the many challenges of working to end leprosy, we pray they will always remember to see beyond the storms in front of them and recognise the inner storms of those they are serving.
Wednesday
O Lord, we find refuge in the shadow of your wings" (Psalm 36.7). In Matthew 23.37, Jesus talks about himself as being like a mother hen sheltering her chicks under her wings. Pray that all who care for people affected by leprosy may be like a 'mother hen' to them, offering shelter - a safe place - in which they can speak of their anxieties, doubts and fears.
Thursday
Pray for our efforts to train our teams in how to be good listeners and to offer appropriate support to persons affected by leprosy. We pray this training will be remembered and implemented well. We pray too for these teams that as they support others, they will experience God’s blessings in their lives.
Friday
Please pray for our referral mechanisms. Our teams must work diligently to ensure we are referring persons affected by leprosy to trustworthy and effective counselling and mental health services. May God guide the work of our teams who develop these referral mechanisms.
Saturday
We pray today for communities where there are people affected by leprosy, that the community members will not treat these individuals with discrimination. We pray for the continuous efforts to put a stop to the myths that surround leprosy.
Sunday
We pray for the Holy Spirit to be in each of our hospitals, bringing peace, rest, stillness, and comfort to all those who visit and all those who are staying there. We ask our Lord to bring restoration to the lives of all who work for and are cared for by The Leprosy Mission.
About Inner Wellbeing
Leprosy is a disease that is dreaded in many communities. In these communities, leprosy causes stigma and discrimination. Leprosy is also a disease that can cause chronic illness and severe impairments.
In this context, you can imagine that the moment of being diagnosed with leprosy can be devastating. Too many patients are forced to withdraw from their communities because of rejection, ill-health, and disability. Anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts are all too common.
At The Leprosy Mission, we aim to focus on the inner wellbeing of persons affected by leprosy. ‘Inner wellbeing’ refers to an individual’s mental, emotional and spiritual state – how they are feeling, and how well they are able to cope with their day-to-day life, psychologically and socially. This means working to serve people holistically, so that their physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social health are all cared for.
We do this work in a number of ways. We train our frontline staff so that they are empathetic listeners with a compassionate heart and are given the freedom to take time to sit with someone who is struggling. We provide basic counselling services and ensure we have appropriate referral pathways for anyone who needs more complex care. We also work within communities to ensure that we stop the myths that surround leprosy, so that no one will face discrimination because of the disease.