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A Prayer about Not Rushing Grief

A Prayer about Not Rushing Grief

I am shut in so that I cannot escape;

my eye grows dim through sorrow.  Psalm 88:8-9

Healing Father,

We all know people who have lost people to death, 

whether anticipated or completely unexpected, 

people who have lost homes and possessions to hurricanes and wildfires, 

and people who have lost relationships they once held dear. 

At first, others may gather around 

and check on the grieving, 

but within a few weeks or a month, 

many people move on,

forgetting it ever happened. 

That’s the way it so often works with grief. 

Our loved one dies; 

our home is wrecked; 

our relationship ends, 

and we are still wounded, 

limping through our daily lives, 

but everyone else has moved on. 

Thank you, good Father, 

for giving us time to grieve. 

Thank you for not rushing us through our pain. 

Thank you for teaching us to lament, 

to cry out to you honestly 

about the agony of our loss. 

Throughout Scripture, 

you give us words to speak to you, 

unexpected words, 

blunt words:

“You have put me in the depths of the pit, 

in the regions dark and deep” (Ps. 88:6).

“Your wrath lies heavy upon me, 

and you overwhelm me with all your waves” (Ps. 88:7). 

“He has left me stunned, 

faint all the day long” (Lam. 1:13).

Lord, in the depths of grief, 

may we keep turning to you, 

naming our honest complaint, 

and may we keep waiting 

to see you shed the light of your glory 

into our darkened hearts. 

May we trust that the day will come 

when the tears we have sown 

will be “reaped with shouts of joy” (Psalm 126: 5). 

Until that day comes, 

bring us the comfort only you can bring.

In Jesus’ merciful name. Amen.

Read Psalm 88; Lamentations 3; Psalm 126. 



A Prayer about Caring for Those Who Grieve

A Prayer about Caring for Those Who Grieve

Afflicted and close to death from my youth up, I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.

Psalm 88:15

 

Merciful Father,

Today we continue our prayer for those grieving an agonizing loss 

with more words from Psalm 88.

For those who feel: “Your wrath lies heavy upon me; 

and you overwhelm me with your waves,” (Psalm 88:7), 

show them your tender compassion and mercy 

through the suffering of your Son.

Remind them that he endured your wrath fully 

so that those who trust in him might never endure it again. 

Help us to bear their burdens by believing for them 

as they wrestle with their unbelief. 

For those who feel: “O Lord, why do you cast my soul away? 

Why do you hide your face from me?” (Psalm 88:14),

Draw near to them in their doubt, 

show them your grace.  

May we enter their grief, 

not with words of explanation for the inexplicable, 

but with presence for those who keenly feel your absence. 

Most of all, Father, we thank you for these dark and harsh words of grief 

written right here in our Bibles. 

May we share them with our grieving friends, 

inviting them to lament their losses. 

You are faithful, and you will hear our prayers.

In Jesus’ grieving name. Amen. 

Read Psalm 88:1-18.



A Prayer about Getting Good at Grief

A Prayer about Getting Good at Grief

I am shut in so I cannot escape; my eye grows dim through sorrow.

Psalm 88:9

Compassionate Father,

We don’t pray Psalm 88 enough, 

and maybe that’s why we’re not very good at grief. 

Today, we use the words of this dark yet hopeful Psalm

 to cry out for ourselves or for friends 

walking through agonizing losses:

For those who feel: 

“You have caused my companions to shun me; 

you have made me a horror to them” (Psalm 88:8),

come close in their isolation, 

and send us as comfort in the flesh. 

May we never shrink back from horrific suffering, 

but may we enter into it with your grace and hope. 

For those who feel: “I am a man (or woman) who has no strength” (Psalm 88:4),

soothe them with the rest they desperately need, 

and provide the energy to do the things they must do. 

Send us to lift them up, 

whether in prayer or in service, 

Most of all, Father, 

help our friends to see that they’re not alone, 

that you have supplied them with a great cloud of witnesses 

to walk with them in this long and torturous journey.

In Jesus’ faithful name. Amen.

Read Psalm 88:1-18.



A Prayer about Our Hope in Broken Stories

A Prayer about Our Hope in Broken Stories

They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. Isaiah 61:4

Restoring God,

Today we lift up all who are in the middle of a story 

that feels like it has been torn up and tossed in the trash. 

The woman who has had three miscarriages in the past two years,

The child who just heard of her parent’s divorce,

The man who has received a cancer diagnosis, 

The people who experience marginalization 

because of their skin color or nationality…

The list goes on and on and on. 

Help us to look for what we really need to see 

in the midst of such stories: 

your restoring work that is happening even today 

and will be completed when Jesus returns.

Here is just some of the good news Jesus speaks to us through Isaiah: 

Instead of streaks of tears sullying your face, 

your face will shine with the oil of gladness

 and the hope of restoration (Isaiah 61:3).

No longer shriveled by sin and sadness, 

you will stand strong, 

planted firmly in the Lord’s steadfast love, 

like a mighty oak waving its leaf-laden branches 

in praise of the Lord’s glory (Isaiah 61:3).

The ruins of your life will be rebuilt, 

losses to the evil one will be restored, 

relationships ravaged by sin will be revived (Isaiah 61:4).

Help us to meditate on this future 

which you are writing into our broken stories even today.

In Jesus’ redeeming name. Amen.

Read Isaiah 61:1-11.

A Prayer about Bearing One Another’s Burdens

A Prayer about Bearing One Another’s Burdens

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2

Merciful God,

How exquisitely you have designed your church, 

the body of Christ. 

You have called us to share our weakness 

with you and with one another, 

and you tell us that in that weakness 

we find our greatest strength

—strength in dependence on Christ, 

strength in dependence on one another (2 Corinthians 12:8-10). 

Today, I pray especially for those in our body who are weak—

the bereft grieving the loss of a loved one, 

the caregiver serving a loved one through many hard days, 

the sick and frail struggling with illness, whether physical or mental….

[Name some weak people you would like to pray for….]

May we truly lift them up, not only in prayer but in service, by bearing their burdens—listening without trying to fix, bringing meals or mowing lawns, forgiving their irritability…

[Name some ways you might bear the burdens of someone who is weak….]

We pray too, that you would empower the weak 

with the humility and grace required 

to receive the loving care of the body of Christ. 

In Jesus’ burden-bearing name. Amen. 

Read Galatians 6:1-10.

A Prayer about How Long Grief Lasts

A Prayer about How Long Grief Lasts

How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?  Psalm 13:2

O Lord,

How long indeed?

It’s been just over two weeks 

since the tragic shooting at a school in Nashville. 

The news cycle has moved on. 

Most people have moved on. 

But those who lost loved ones that day haven’t,

and they won’t, 

not for a long time. 

Dark images are engraved in their mind’s eye; 

tears at such sudden, shocking loss 

of so many precious lives, 

burst forth without warning.

And there are others 

who lost loved ones that week, 

but no one seemed to notice their loss. 

Their loved one died a “normal death,” 

cut down by cancer, 

destroyed by disease,

succumbing to old age.

Oh Lord, how long indeed? 

How long will we wait for the day 

of no more death, 

for indeed there is no such thing 

as a “normal” death. 

How long will it seem that our enemy, 

death and evil, 

is exalted over us?

We are tired. 

We are weary. 

We don’t think we can endure another day.

Will you come, even now, 

Lord Jesus,

So near to the brokenhearted?

Will you revive us again?

We long, like David, 

who sang Psalm 13, 

to sing out in hope, 

even in the midst of our grief, 

to utter the words 

which we do believe are true:

“But I have trusted in your steadfast love;

    my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

I will sing to the Lord,

    because he has dealt bountifully with me” (Psalm 13:5-6).

Give us voice to your goodness

even as we continue to grieve.

In Jesus’ hope-full name. 

Amen.

Read Psalm 13