Prayers for the Grieving 5: Send a Titus to Comfort Me

... when we came into Macedonia, we had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn--conflicts on the outside, fears within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus,
(2 Cor 7:5-6 NIV BIBLE) 

Father God, I trust that you comfort the downcast. I am downcast, and need your comfort. Please comfort me. Please send me someone like Titus to comfort me.

Prayers for the Grieving 4: God's Holy Decision

Who among the gods is like you, LORD? Who is like you--
majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?
You stretch out your right hand, and the earth swallows your enemies.
In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed.
In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.
(Exo 15:11-13 NIV BIBLE)

Lord, you are majestically holy and glorious.  This means that everything you do is holy and glorious and right. I do not understand why you have allowed recent things to happen, but I do trust that you made a holy decision that is right.
I pray now that I would sense your unfailing love. I feel a numbness brought on by lack of sleep and my body's natural reaction to emotional pain. I understand this is normal, but I really want to be able to feel your unfailing love, because I need it so badly. In your unfailing love, please lead me and strengthen me through the rest of today. Lead me through the pain, and into your presence. Enable me to pray to you, talk with you, cry to you, and worship you.
Give me a sense of your holiness and glory in this dark time.

How God helps me when I miss my dad

Today I woke up and started praying for my dad. Even though its been 18 months, it took a few seconds for it to dawn on me that he's no longer alive. There's no point in praying for him anymore. I'll never see him again unless we catch glimpses of each other on the day Christ returns. Not seeing him again is a great loss, and I've learned that its healthy to acknowledge and mourn losses. Mourning for me involves telling God how I feel.

So, I went and prayed to God about it, I talked to my heavenly father about the loss of my earthly father. I talked to him about the fatherly attributes of my dad that I missed. And as I did, God gave me the grace to see something very significant:

The things I miss about my dad, are things Father God can give me, because He is the source of all good fatherly things.

The concept of a father comes from God himself (Eph 3:14-15). God is the ultimate father, and earthly fathers are like mini-models of God the father. When I was a kid I had a bunch of plastic Airfix models of tanks and planes. They weren't the real thing, but they resembled the real thing in certain ways. They had the same dimensions of the real tanks and planes, and the same colours. But there were also ways that they didn't resemble the real thing; they were plastic instead of metal, and they couldn't drive or fly without me propelling them. Same way, my earthly father resembled God the Father in some ways, and in other ways he simply didn't. I don't miss the ways he didn't resemble God, but I do miss the ways he did. So how does this knowledge help me?

The things I miss about my dad, are things Father God can give me, because He is the source of all good fatherly things.

I miss the father/son connection I had with my dad. This connection was real, and something to be missed, but it was also a small model of the father/son connection God gives his children. So, I can turn to Father God saying, "I miss that connection, can I please experience that connection with you?" I also miss when my dad would give me a smile. Those smiles were a small model of a greater reality that Father God smiles at me. I also miss knowing there was someone bigger and stronger than me who was involved in my life. This too was a small model of how God is bigger and stronger than me, and involved in my life in a way that he fights for me, and takes care of me.

So, whilst I miss the fatherly things I experienced from my dad, I can also go to Father God and ask him for these things: connection, smiles, care etc.

'Father God, let me experience a father/son connection with you, let me know your smile upon me, and help me to rest in the knowledge of your care, Amen.' (Rom 8:15; Num 6:24-26; Ps 17:7-8)

Prayers for the Grieving 3: God does not willingly bring grief

Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love.
 For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone. (Lam 3:32-33 NIV BIBLE)

Lord God, I don't understand why you've allowed this grief in my life, but I do understand that you didn't bring it willingly. Because of the fall, bad things happen, and this is one of those things. It wasn't your first choice for me to suffer this way. Your first choice was for me to live an Eden-like existence. But since the fall, certain events take place that are part of your plan to rescue us. This plan has involved painful decisions on your part, and one of these decisions involved the loss I'm now facing. So, I know that you did not willingly bring this grief to me. 

I also know that you promise to show me compassion. Please Father of Compassion, comfort me at this time, I need your comfort.

Prayers for the Grieving 2: Lonely and Afflicted

 Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.

 Relieve the troubles of my heart and free me from my anguish. 

(Psa 25:16-17 NIV BIBLE) 

Turn to me God because I am lonely; I've lost someone so valuable to me.
Turn to me because I feel afflicted by death.
Please Father, relieve my troubled heart, bring your relief that will give me a peace surpassing all understanding (Phil 4:7).
Please Dad, free me from the anguish I feel.