A Prayer for The Mourning
-by David Morrison
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Father, tonight [during this season of joy], we lift up those who have no hope of comfort, no consolation, no warmth, only the crumbs of despair and the hiss of distance. Let the power of your fatherly love break through their isolation and bond them again to your whole family in heaven and on earth. We join our hearts as your heart is joined to the bereaved, and for their sake we cry out:
For the widow and the orphan whom you bind to your very heart
For the parents who will never see their little ones grow up
For brothers and sisters separated by accident, murder, suicide, or sickness.
Lord, comfort those who cannot be comforted.
For families still waiting for their loved ones to come home
For the mothers of the disappeared
For the fathers of the silent bitterness
Lord, comfort those who cannot be comforted.
For friends who gather at the graves of their fallen comrades
For grandsons and daughters who no longer hear the voice of their elders
For those who wail in grief and for those who have no more tears
Lord, comfort those who cannot be comforted.
Lord Jesus, we pray for the miracle of your holy birth to manifest tonight on these: That you would be Emmanuel to them; that you would be “God-With-Them” tonight.
Holy Spirit, take this prayer and make it a multiplied seed in the hearts of the grieving this season. Cause our prayer of hope against all hope to be a part of the world’s healing tonight.
Amen.
