A prayer for the suffering
Prayer for the suffering
Jesus our healer, the one who sees, the one who draws near, the one who holds, the one who weeps,
I come to you to acknowledge the pain that is unseen.
The suffering that is invisible. And the agony that exists among us and around us and within us.
The pain of Broken-heartedness. Of betrayal by those who we once trusted. Of being overlooked by those who we needed to see us. Of being disbelieved and discounted. Of being silenced and forsaken.
Jesus our healer, have mercy. Heal our wounds.
For the mental and emotional anguish that torments so many in our communities and in our families. And for the pain and trauma that drives so much of it. For wounds caused by abuse, and the agony inflicted by the response and non-response of others. For harm done in the name of the God of love.
Jesus our healer, have mercy. Heal our wounds.
Prayer for open eyes
For those of us who carry the responsibility of leadership I pray that you would peel back the layers of our blindness that leaves suffering invisible to us.
Break through the layers of self preservation we have placed over our hearts.
Jesus, allow us to be broken by the cost of carrying invisible pain. To acknowledge the impossible toll the burden of invisibility creates. And to have the courage to carry the burdens of others that your law would be fulfilled in our midst.
Repentance
Jesus our healer, for the ways we your people have failed to see those entrusted to our care.
Have mercy and lead us to repentance.
For our neglect of those suffering. For the way we have shamed those for whom moving on is not so simple. For the way we have silenced those hurting and those crying out. For the way we have told them to sit down and stop making a scene.
Have mercy and lead us to repentance.
For our participation - known and unknown - in shaming the hurting and adding to the burdens of pain already carried. For choosing distance over closeness,
Have mercy and lead us to repentance.
A Blessing
For those in this room and hearing this prayer who have carried invisible pain:
May you find those who can see you.
May God raise up those around you to hold you.
May those around you have the courage to draw near to you.
And while you wait for the Body of Christ to be the hands that hold, the arms that embrace, and the eyes that see and weep with, may the spirit of Jesus our Healer transcend the inadequacies of his Body and heal your wounds in the miraculous power that is his alone.
May you find relief in his presence and comfort in his gaze.
And for us all, may we be strengthened with courage to see, to enter, and to hold the invisible burdens of those in our midst that Jesus longs to heal.
Jesus our healer, have mercy on us and heal our wounds.