Prayer for the Victims of Addiction
O blessed Lord, you ministered to all who came to you: Look with compassion upon all who through addiction have lost their health and freedom. Restore to them the assurance of your unfailing mercy; remove from them the fears that beset them; strengthen them in the work of their recovery; and to those who care for them, give patient understanding and persevering love. Amen.
Psalm 140
Deliver me, O Lord, from evildoers; *
protect me from the violent,
Who devise evil in their hearts *
and stir up strife all day long.
They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; *
adder’s poison is under their lips.
Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; *
protect me from the violent,
who are determined to trip me up.
who are determined to trip me up.
The proud have hidden a snare for me
and stretched out a net of cords; *
and stretched out a net of cords; *
they have set traps for me along the path.
I have said to the Lord, “You are my God; *
listen, O Lord, to my supplication.
O Lord God, the strength of my salvation, *
you have covered my head in the day of battle.
Do not grant the desires of the wicked, O Lord, *
nor let their evil plans prosper.
Let not those who surround me lift up their heads; *
let the evil of their lips overwhelm them.
Let hot burning coals fall upon them; *
let them be cast into the mire, never to rise up again.”
A slanderer shall not be established on the earth, *
and evil shall hunt down the lawless.
I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the poor *
and render justice to the needy.
Surely, the righteous will give thanks to your Name, *
and the upright shall continue in your sight.
Image: “Addiction” by Kazarelth is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
