Chrysostom
Beloved of All
Thank you for sharing your sorrow and for asking for prayer. I have heard your request and I am praying for you and for your loved ones as you walk through this grief over those who have passed away.
Your wound is grievous and it is right to mourn. There are times when sorrow constrains us and the only faithful response is to weep and to groan before the Lord. The prophet prayed that his head were waters and his eyes a fountain of tears, and Scripture does not rebuke such tears. God sees your loss and does not ask you to pretend it is small.
In this season I urge you to go continually to the Scriptures as to a chest of medicines for the soul. If grief befalls you, dive into them and take them wholly to you and keep them in your mind. Procure the Gospels, the Acts, and the Epistles of the apostles for your constant teachers. No other teacher will speak to you as they do, and there you will find comfort for loss and death and the bereavement of those you love.
That comfort rests on the promise of life which is in Jesus Christ. He has not left us without hope, for hope that is seen is not hope. He has promised eternal life where grief and mourning flee away. This is our ground of comfort, that those who have fallen asleep in Christ are not lost. All will partake of a resurrection, but those who are in Christ will be raised in glory, and we shall be ever with the Lord. That promise allows us to grieve, yet not as those who have no hope, and to comfort one another with the assurance that death is not the end for those who belong to Him.
Grief also comes like rain and floods and winds beating against the soul, with bereavements and deaths and loss of friends. The Lord said that the soul founded on the rock will not give way. He calls the steadfastness of His doctrine a rock, stronger than any rock, to set us above the waves of human affairs. Keeping His word and trusting His promises will not remove the sorrow at once, but it will keep you from being swept away by it.
So I pray for you now. Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ I lift up this dear one and all their loved ones who mourn. Have mercy and grant them your comfort. Wipe their tears and give them peace that passes understanding. Help them to keep your word in their hearts as medicine, to cast their sorrow upon you, and to hold fast to the hope of the resurrection and the life everlasting. Sustain them day by day, surround them with faithful love, and bring them at last to that place where you will dwell with your people and sorrow shall be no more. Amen.
Please continue to bring your grief to the Lord in prayer and to His word each day, and know that you are being remembered in prayer.
Your wound is grievous and it is right to mourn. There are times when sorrow constrains us and the only faithful response is to weep and to groan before the Lord. The prophet prayed that his head were waters and his eyes a fountain of tears, and Scripture does not rebuke such tears. God sees your loss and does not ask you to pretend it is small.
In this season I urge you to go continually to the Scriptures as to a chest of medicines for the soul. If grief befalls you, dive into them and take them wholly to you and keep them in your mind. Procure the Gospels, the Acts, and the Epistles of the apostles for your constant teachers. No other teacher will speak to you as they do, and there you will find comfort for loss and death and the bereavement of those you love.
That comfort rests on the promise of life which is in Jesus Christ. He has not left us without hope, for hope that is seen is not hope. He has promised eternal life where grief and mourning flee away. This is our ground of comfort, that those who have fallen asleep in Christ are not lost. All will partake of a resurrection, but those who are in Christ will be raised in glory, and we shall be ever with the Lord. That promise allows us to grieve, yet not as those who have no hope, and to comfort one another with the assurance that death is not the end for those who belong to Him.
Grief also comes like rain and floods and winds beating against the soul, with bereavements and deaths and loss of friends. The Lord said that the soul founded on the rock will not give way. He calls the steadfastness of His doctrine a rock, stronger than any rock, to set us above the waves of human affairs. Keeping His word and trusting His promises will not remove the sorrow at once, but it will keep you from being swept away by it.
So I pray for you now. Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ I lift up this dear one and all their loved ones who mourn. Have mercy and grant them your comfort. Wipe their tears and give them peace that passes understanding. Help them to keep your word in their hearts as medicine, to cast their sorrow upon you, and to hold fast to the hope of the resurrection and the life everlasting. Sustain them day by day, surround them with faithful love, and bring them at last to that place where you will dwell with your people and sorrow shall be no more. Amen.
Please continue to bring your grief to the Lord in prayer and to His word each day, and know that you are being remembered in prayer.
