7 Prayers That Work

  Oh, Lord, our Comfort and our Hope-- I'm grieving a loss. I don't have anywhere to turn but you. I don't know what to say or how to feel. I can't navigate the breadth of my emotions and fears. Only your words and your truth can help me rest in the peace that you alone are my Rock and my Fortress. You are my Stronghold ( Psalm 18:2 ).  I don't need to be afraid. But I am. So help me steer through the fear and the pain to the hope that waits on the other side of grief. When I'm ready-- and every time I'm not ready-- you are present to comfort and re-orient me. Your words are truth, and I will eat them ( Jeremiah 15:16 ). Thank you. In Jesus' name, Amen. "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,  who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.  For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of ...

Oh, Lord, Pour out your blessing and comfort today on those personally affected by 9/11 . Comfort those who long for family members lost on that terrible day. Restore our country's empathy for human life. Convict us for choosing hatred and hostility over love and forgiveness, for creating disunity when we disagree instead of unity by working together. Sustain us in the hard times to come. Heal us from the suffering we've endured  and help us see that you walk with us through every trial, you hold us through every trauma, you redeem everything we put into your hands to control. Thank you. Bless us because that's who YOU are, not because we deserve your blessing . We are already blessed to overflowing. Thank you. I praise you and love you.  In Jesus' holy name, Amen. "'Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people. I will live among you,' declares the Lord." ( Zechariah 2:11 )

Dear God, You understand heartbreak.  You know what it is to lose a child to senseless violence . Lord, fall on us and blanket our misery! Bring vengeance on the perpetrators of injustice. This latest act of violence against a child sickens and saddens me. No parent should lose a child because someone else's child is angry, confused, or traumatized. Or just a sinner, committing a sin. And now another child has died. Sometimes the killed child is an unborn baby. Sometimes it's a neglected child. Sometimes it's a teenager, caught up in drugs or theft  or just being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Sometimes a child's death is caused by someone's trauma , someone's desperation, someone's mental illness someone's cruelty. It's shocking what we humans are capable of doing. It's all so horrible, and I know it grieves you. You desire hope, healing, peace, love, forgiveness, restitution, belonging. May my heart always break when your heart break...

 Oh, Lord,  You are the God of comfort . Teach me to grieve .  It makes me uncomfortable, but it's so necessary for healing and perspective. Help me to trust your love and care enough to lean into pain and trauma and the wild uncertainty of hard times, of personal and collective  crisis . You are a God of compassion . Teach me to grieve for others. give me perspective and empathy and sincerity that other people's experiences are different and just as traumatic and difficult than my own. Maybe even more! I want to be kind and willing to sit with them in their pain without passing judgment,  assuming I have the answers, or teaching them how to feel or act in their pain. You are a God of forgiveness . Teach me to be forgiving when I feel that someone has wronged me, misunderstood me,  or hurt me. You give us chances, over and over-- a thousand million chances to change, to repent, to revive, to follow. Help me repent of my own sin and refuse to be the judge...

Lord Jesus, We ask your Spirit to comfort us today. Whether we suffer with grief, anxiety , fear, hurt, anger, betrayal, guilt, or hopelessness- - Come meet us. Speak into our lives and invite us to sit in your presence. To feel you. To trust you. To hear you. We come and sit. We wait with expectation and wonder. We will tell of your wonders. We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will sing your praises because you always uphold your righteous causes. You will rebuke sin and arrogance. You will blot out the names of the wicked with your vengeance and uphold the testimony of the righteous. You will judge the world for its sin. You will govern us, your people, with justice . You are refuge for the the oppressed and a stronghold in times of trouble. Because of your power, righteousness will not be defeated. Those who seek you will know your name -- they will hear you call yourself by the name they most need to understand. And that will cause them to...

The death of a good person generally doesn't make sense. It's never the right time. Someone is always too young. No answer to your "why?" is ever sufficient, if it gets answered at all. Grief is always unbearably hard. Rachel Held Evan's death doesn't make sense. It wasn't a good time. She was too young. She was accomplishing so much. When something tragic happens, all I know to do is pray (which is sometimes simply a rhetorical "why????" and that's okay.) If you're grieving, give prayer a try. Dear Lord, Comfort Rachel Held Evans' family, friends, and readers at her sudden death. Comfort those of us who grieve whenever we feel another's loss fresh with pain. You can't make us understand, so just help us to trust you with our loss and our grief. Use this and every sorrow to bind us closer to you and find solace and faith in trusting your love for us and your continued plan to prosper us as your children...

Dear God of all comfort, Settle over the families today who are missing their loved ones. Reach into those painful places and smooth the fear and anger; stave off the bitterness, and help them find joy today. Give them new purpose and vision--help them to envision and begin a new life without the ones they've lost. Lord of heaven, comfort us as a nation. I don't ask that you make our lives easy, because nothing with value was ever easy. But give us passion and purpose to live for you, and in so doing, serve our fellow-man. Make us Christ-followers first and Americans second. May our patriotism grow from a love of countryman, not a hatred of foreigners. Lead the citizens of this land to be strong, compassionate, and honest leaders. May we be a people of integrity--that is what brings honor to the dead. Leadership inspires future heroes. Make us leaders who hold human lives above personal values, ambition, and pride. May we see justice through your eyes alone. I pray ov...

A Paraphrase of Psalm 66 Almighty God, The whole world will shout with joy to You and testify of You, telling everyone about the amazing things You've done for mankind. We worship You! How awesome are Your dealings with us! Your enemies cower under Your majesty. They cannot hide from Your power. Everyone, Take notice of God's care: He miraculously interferes in the natural causes of the earth and rescues us, miraculously. He controls and oversees mankind, even while evil men rule the earth. They will not win over Him. Everyone, praise the Lord! Tell others of His powerful deeds! He keeps us from demolishing our own lives, if we let Him. He challenges our faith by leading us through difficult circumstances. He allows us to be tested, persecuted, and oppressed. Yet He endures affliction with us and brings us out into a sunny place. Then we worship Him, because we see Him for who He is: great, powerful, loving, and just, a God who can be trusted. Ever...

Dear God of all comfort, Thank you. I'm grieving, but I thank You for everything. Thank you for creating the church, which functions like a family. I can't explain how people I've never met or hardly know can send me a prayer or encouragement, and I instantly feel loved and no longer alone. Thank you for making prayer a way to express grief, joy, fear, and frustration. I don't know why it works, but it does. Thank you for the opportunity to serve You by serving other people. I don't know why loving someone else when I need to be loved fills an emotional hole, but it does. Thank you for growing my faith through trials. I don't completely understand how suffering can produce joy in my life, but I see it happen all the time. Thank you for asking me to be generous. I can't explain how we can give away so much and still pay our bills, but remarkably, it's true. Thank you for a million other blessings--for every sunset, for every flower, for ...

Dear God of all comfort, You get grief. It sucks, doesn't it? Grief interrupts the joy of living and suffocates you. It's like dying but knowing you will eventually come up for air, and you will not pass out. You will live through it. You get it. You felt grief in the sharpest way possible. You were betrayed and rejected by the object of your love and sacrifice. And then you were rejected by your Father. You bore the weight of the sins of the whole world--the horrific acts of violence, cruelty, and debauchery. You felt them and You wore them as You died. And because You know what grief is, You are the only true comforter. So comfort us. Spread Your peace like a quilt over the shoulders of those who grieve parents, children, and the lives they hoped to live. Give each of us hope and confidence that You have a plan for us--You will prosper and keep us in Your perfect will. Grief is just a part of Your will. It's just not the part we wanted to experience. To und...