Thursday Prayer

A Prayer For Those Who Mourn

God Of All Nations and Peoples:

We remember and we lament.

Comfort us, O Holy One, as we cry out to You:

We remember the tragedy that happened twenty years ago on September 11^th. We remember the smoke, the shock, and the fear. Two decades have come and gone, and the world is still full of hurt and pain.

On this day, we remember that Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” We confess that when we are in the middle of our hurt and our pain, we often do not feel blessed. As we drown in sorrow, we do not feel comfort. It is all we can do to gasp for air—

Sometimes grief is a fierce agony that rips at our souls. Other times it is the steady throbbing ache of constant sorrow.

We cry out to you as we remember. We remember that other countries have known loss and sorrow. We are not the only ones who mourn. We remember how natural disaster has left its mark on many nations and we cry out when we hear how we small humans have broke the delicate balance of your creation.

We pray for all those everywhere who have lost a loved one,

For those who struggle with the pain and sorrow caused by the pandemic,

For those who live in places that are constantly torn apart by war.

Creator of All Things: We beseech You. Hear our prayers and shower mercy upon us. Although we lament in different languages, the pain that we feel is the same. Only You can ease this hurt. Only You can turn our mourning into beauty and transform our burdens into blessings.

We remember—

And we pray.

Amen.

About the Author: Rev. Rebecca L. Holland, M.Div. is a visually impaired Filipino-American pastor serving in the United Methodist Church. She is the author of Through My Good Eye: A Memoir in Verse, The United Methodist Church and Disability, and Hope for the Broken: Using Writing to Find God’s Grace. She blogs about faith, books, and disability awareness at BeckieWrites.com

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