Ten Ways to Pray After a Very Dark Day
Virtually every official or news anchor who reports on the Boston Marathon tragedy asks us to pray. Scripture asks, "When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?" Then it answers with this incredibly reassuring reality: "The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord is on His heavenly throne" (Psalm 11:3-4). Prayer allows us to go to that Throne from which the galaxies are governed and focus all the resources of a loving God on the people and pain of Boston. As we focus on what the Bible reveals of who God is, we will know how to pray powerfully, effectively and decisively.
Ten Ways to Pray...
- God of all comfort and all peace, pour out that comfort and peace on the wounded, the grieving and all our anxious hearts (2 Corinthians 1:3).
- God who heals us, bring healing to every victim.
"I am the Lord who heals you" (Exodus 15:26).
- God who gives wisdom, give supernatural insight and direction to every doctor, nurse, surgeon or caregiver who is treating the injured.
"God...gives wisdom generously" (James 1:5).
- God who "gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak" - supernaturally energize and renew the exhausted medical and law enforcement personnel in this crisis (Isaiah 40:29).
- God "who loves justice" (Psalm 11:7), guide those who are seeking justice as they investigate and analyze. Help them get it right and get it soon.
- God who heals the brokenhearted, move in very close to those whose lives and families have been shattered.
"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted...He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds" (Psalm 34:18; 147:3).
- God of all grace, pour out Your all-sufficient grace daily on those who have seen or experienced awful things, on those whose bodies have been broken, on all those who have suffered loss.
"The God of all grace...after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong...My grace is sufficient for you" (1 Peter 4:10; 2 Corinthians 12:9).
- God of hope, may Your people - who know Your hope - "overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" ... may they be Your light in this darkness...may they be Jesus' personal ambassadors in this vulnerable and painful time (Romans 15:13; 2 Corinthians 5:20).
- God of all compassion, send a tsunami of Your love to all who've been touched by this tragedy...and bless those who are the hands and feet and voice of Your love (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).
- God who "so loved the world" that You "sent Your one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him" (1 John 4:9), help many turn their hearts to Your Son in this vulnerable and turbulent time.