Catastrophic events including death do not separate us from God and his love. I will share some thoughts from scripture before explaining specificity in personal prayer. We hear in Psalm 23:4 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me” and in Psalm 116:15 “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” Here we see that those who have died in a catastrophe can be sure that God is with them during the event evidenced in Deuteronomy 31:6 and Isaiah 26:3 and that they are in the presence of God upon death. Once dead, scripture assures us that we will be changed, remade in the image of God in Philippians 3:21, 1 Corinthians 15:52 and 1 John 3:2. For those of us left behind we mourn, we grieve the loss of our family members and friends. God cares for and understands the broken heart as seen in Psalm 147:3 “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” and in John 14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. ”Isaiah 51:11 tells us of how God can restore joy and gladness. Where does this leave us? It leaves us with personal prayer from our spiritual tool kit. With my own prayers from the heart, I can be specific, asking God for the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit, virtues and graces both for myself and for those who have died, are injured, starving, or suffering in any way. This is not the time for generalized prayer. It is a time to pray for strength, for the courage to face each challenge to survival. I pray that God give his children, each victim, the courage to identify bodies, to bind up wounds, to shelter one another. I pray that each victim find God’s love in the eyes and hearts, the words of hope and fellowship, spiritual help, physical care from another survivor or relief worker. I pray that each of us receive the peace and grace to accept what has happened so that each can begin healing. I pray for forgiveness and trust so to allow us to not blame God, the universe, whatever and the wisdom not to get stuck or obsess about ‘why’ a question that has no answer other than to bring the whole world’s peoples closer together in compassion not war. I pray for gratitude in the hearts and minds of those who survived and in the hearts and minds of those who have been given the gift of having an identified body to bury. The call to general prayer and more specifically to intercessory prayer for others is essential. In conclusion our faith in God or a Higher Power gives us the opportunity to pray. Our minds and wills inspire us to pray. Our hearts surrendered to God’s will instructs us who to pray for. Our wisdom teaches how to pray, to talk to God from the heart not our head. If you are new to daily prayer life, please consider making a start by just talking to God for 5 minutes a day. Formal prayers can be used, however God wants to hear what is in your heart, His child’s heart. Blessings!
