New eBook! Praying in Times of Grief

The most difficult days in my life came in the weeks after 9/11. The woman I had been married to for seven years told me she wanted a divorce, leaving our two small children with me. Grieving for my broken marriage and my devastated children, my emotions ran the gamut of fear, anger, and despair, making it very difficult for me to pray. I couldn’t formulate the words. By God’s grace, when we’re too wounded to speak, the Holy Spirit does the talking for us.

God used the horrible time to turn my life back to Jesus after I’d wandered in “a distant country” (Luke 15:13) for so long. In his presence, I leaned into the Bible to anchor my prayers. If you are in a season of grief and don’t know how or what to pray, God’s Word provides the perfect guide.

ReFrame Prayer Ministry recently published a 31-day prayer guide, titled Prayers of Comfort for a Grieving Heart. Here are some excerpts. We hope they will bless you and help direct your prayers as you intercede for those who are grieving.

Deuteronomy 33:12
Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders. 

Loving Father, when the weight of loss makes me feel isolated and abandoned, help me to remember I am your dearly loved child. Remind me that I can rest in your presence no matter what the circumstances or how empty my heart feels. You are my shield and protector; you gently hold me between your shoulders and cradle my head to your chest. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Psalm 42:11
Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. 

God of hope, at times I wonder if this sadness will ever end; then I remember that my hope—my only hope—is in you, and I choose to praise you. Scripture says you delight in your people. I know that when I praise you, I am in your presence even in my deep sadness. Thank you for being my Savior and my God. I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Isaiah 49:15b-16
I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me. 

Loving God, if friends who I thought would always be there for me walk out of my life, leaving me feeling forgotten and rejected, remind me of the powerful truth that you will never forget me. In fact, you have written my name on the palm of your loving hand. Help me to make you my most important love relationship. In the name of Christ, Amen.

2 Corinthians 12:9
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

Strong powerful God, as I travel this road of grief and loss, I feel weak and fragile. When I feel  unable to cope with my new reality, remind me that your power is perfected in my weakness.  Help me find the courage to get through each day. Your grace is more than enough to strengthen me and enable me to endure. I claim your strength and grace. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

1 John 3:1a
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!  

Father of love, when my grief overwhelms me, remind me of my identity–I am a child of the Most-High God. I belong to you. I am lavishly loved by you. Help me accept that I am your child, to receive your love, be comforted by it, and live in the reality of it. In the precious name of Jesus, Amen.

Did you find this article helpful? I invite you to download the entire 31-day prayer guide, Prayers of Comfort for a Grieving Heart.