I have been thinking a lot this Advent about friends and relatives who are facing Christmas in the midst of heavy grief. Joy—at least the kind touted by endless soundtracks in stores and cute decorations on doors and TV specials—is hard to come by when you are plodding from day to day in a fog of pain. Prayers for the suffering can be a way to comfort those who are in that pain.
Frenzied Christmas cheer isn’t obligatory. We may normally love the glitter and buzz of the holiday, but salvation doesn’t depend on our emotions: Christ was born whether we are happy or sad, excited or grieving. He knows that if this year we stare listlessly at the Nativity scene, it is because we are in the midst of suffering and loss. He knows that feeling, for God became man so that our suffering is not eternal.
READ MORE: How to Pray for Your Nativity Scene
Still, it’s a hard time of year when the traditions that normally lift your spirits feel alien and useless. And so we offer up these prayer for those who are sad and heavy-hearted.
A Prayer for the Suffering:
Lord, thank you for sending your son so that after death we may know something other than the suffering and pain this world offers. Thank you for Jesus’ birth, for it opened the door to unending joy we can’t imagine. Lord, bless the brokenhearted, especially ____________. Caress them with moments of peace, and remind them that even though their broken hearts may be all they have, that is all You want. And Lord, if it be your will, take some portion of the goodness you shower upon me and give it to them, instead.
A Bible Prayer for Loved Ones:
May your love abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. — Bob Hostetler (Philippians 1:9-11, NIV)
READ MORE: 10 Bible Blessings to Pray for Those You Love
What prayers for the suffering will you be saying this Christmas season?
