Family Days
Prayer
Pastoral Prayers For All Seasons
Object:
There comes the moment, Loving Spirit, when we are devastated by the news of a loved one's tragedy. What should our first response be? What can we say or do for our loved one and for the family members who so lovingly surround him? How should we pray?
How we wish we could say, "There, there, now, I'm sure everything will be okay." Or if we can't offer words, surely there must be something we can do. Perhaps we can locate a new specialist, a new medicine, a new diet, a new prayer -- something, surely something.
Then we come back to the wall that we will never climb. Our helplessness makes us angry that we cannot find a glimmer of hope that will bring our loved one back into the mainstream of life. Even now we pray for a miracle -- an extension of time, a soothing comfort -- that will erase the tragedy that has been etched unwanted upon our lives.
O God, we turn to you because our need is so great. We place ourselves with those members of the faith who have stood where we stand. As they were sustained, so we wish to be sustained. While our sorrow and pain will continue, assure us that we will not be forsaken. Those members of the faith were comforted and their lives did not end in vain. They came to you and their lives were held in honor. So it will be for our loved one and us. This we claim not because we are deserving, or all-knowing, but because it is the nature of your love to sustain us, no matter what occurs.
Grant us now a glimmer of that future day when we will, in the presence of your joy, be free from disease and death. Reach through our vacillating faith with your Spirit that keeps us focused on you, the Creator of the life that never ends. Regardless of the content of our days, we place our trust in you.
In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
How we wish we could say, "There, there, now, I'm sure everything will be okay." Or if we can't offer words, surely there must be something we can do. Perhaps we can locate a new specialist, a new medicine, a new diet, a new prayer -- something, surely something.
Then we come back to the wall that we will never climb. Our helplessness makes us angry that we cannot find a glimmer of hope that will bring our loved one back into the mainstream of life. Even now we pray for a miracle -- an extension of time, a soothing comfort -- that will erase the tragedy that has been etched unwanted upon our lives.
O God, we turn to you because our need is so great. We place ourselves with those members of the faith who have stood where we stand. As they were sustained, so we wish to be sustained. While our sorrow and pain will continue, assure us that we will not be forsaken. Those members of the faith were comforted and their lives did not end in vain. They came to you and their lives were held in honor. So it will be for our loved one and us. This we claim not because we are deserving, or all-knowing, but because it is the nature of your love to sustain us, no matter what occurs.
Grant us now a glimmer of that future day when we will, in the presence of your joy, be free from disease and death. Reach through our vacillating faith with your Spirit that keeps us focused on you, the Creator of the life that never ends. Regardless of the content of our days, we place our trust in you.
In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
