I am facing a difficult week of sorrow. I have been requested to come onsite to help teachers and school staff to cope with the death of one of their students this past weekend. Then another request for ongoing support to a workplace whose employees learned that they will no longer have their jobs in the coming months. Then there are the nationwide calls to provide support to first responders who are working to help patients heal from Covid.
Our world and all in it are groaning. I feel like I see and hear suffering around me everywhere I turn. A question I get asked is, “How do I pray through sorrow and suffering?” Let’s take a look at some practical ways we can turn to God in prayer in times like these.
Acknowledge that sorrow is a grace.
It is hard to experience and hold sorrow. Let’s be honest, it doesn’t always feel like a grace. What I’ve learned from experiencing sorrow is that it is often an experience of seeing the world as God sees it. It brings us to a place of empathy and a deep seeing of our own pain or others’ pain. Jesus felt sorrow as he looked with pity and wept for Jerusalem (Luke 19:41–44). Mary felt sorrow as she watched her son’s pain. Our sorrow is a grace as our hearts are connecting to an experience Christ had.
God sees us with a loving, compassionate gaze.
Imagine God lovingly looking at us and inviting us to name honestly what we feel, see, and hear. Praying through sorrow starts with naming the real of our lives and invites God into the sorrow we are holding. As we bring the real of our lives to God, we let our wounds and the suffering we see connect with the wounds Jesus experienced. In our being vulnerable, we invite God to enter our hearts and hold the sorrow with us.
Show up in prayer.
It is very easy to feel tempted not to show up in prayer when we are feeling sorrow. It can feel too painful to acknowledge what we are facing. We may want to turn away from it and resist talking to God about it. Even if our prayer feels messy, showing up and bringing all we are feeling to God helps us work through our sorrow.
Allow our sorrow to be turned into action.
Engaging God in our sorrow opens us to transformation. As we ask, “What ought I do for Christ?” God inspires small and sometimes larger actions we can take. Our prayer and being with God influence our actions and begin the healing within.
One last thing for us to remember: When we feel sorrow, we can still be in consolation. Consolation is when we are aligned with the Holy Spirit’s movement in our lives. As time goes on, I take comfort in knowing that even when I feel sorrow, God is with me, and I can still be with God. I hope that provides you comfort as well.
Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who are in pain or sorrow that you walk at their side to give them Your healing strength and hope.
