Prayer For The Hurting

PRAYER FOR THE HURTING

Everyone we encounter is hurting in one way or another. There are millions of people who don’t have enough to eat. There are those who suffer from disease and sickness. Others have been deeply wounded and abused. Still others are plagued by mental illness. And then there are the heartbroken, the lonely, and the abandoned. Suffering is a central element of the human experience and will be until the restoration of all things. In the meantime, in the midst, we hope, we wait, and we join in God’s Kingdom work. As Paul wrote to the church in Rome,

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

Romans 8:18-27, NIV

• Spend a few minutes now praying for the hurting. Perhaps there is a specific group of people God brings to mind: those who are hungry, lonely, or sick. As you consider the way that group suffers, what emotions, doubts, fears, and pain would that suffering cause? With your words, bring those people before God and ask him to intervene, heal, and make his presence known.
• Ask God to show you what he’s inviting you to do for that group as a way of participating in his plans.
• Pray also for particular people you know who are suffering right now. What do they need? How is God inviting you to love and serve them?

May your Kingdom come, may your will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.