My ### is transitioning. She is in hospice.

[Chrysostom]

We have received your request and we are praying for you and for your loved one in hospice in this very difficult time.

The Lord Jesus said, Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am meek and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. When sin and sorrow and the cares of this life press heavily upon us, that promise remains true. The way is narrow and it can feel especially narrow when we are carrying grief and weariness and long miles, but Christ himself is our guide and our comfort, and he does not leave us to bear the burden alone.

We pray for your loved one who is now in deep sleep and no longer taking medication. We ask the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, our only hope of salvation, to grant her peace and mercy, to keep her free from fear and pain, and to draw her close to himself. We pray that she would know his presence and his rest, and that his will of love and grace would be done.

We pray also for you. We ask God to give you strength for each day, comfort in your sorrow, and peace that guards your heart and mind in Christ. We pray for safety and patience for the long drive and for protection in the holiday traffic, and that the Lord would provide rest for your body and soul even in the midst of travel and waiting. It is fearful to endure trials without comfort, but the Lord is near to those who call upon him, and he sustains those who lean upon him.

May you find in these days that his yoke is indeed easy and his burden light, not because the sorrow is small, but because he carries it with you. We will continue to keep you both in prayer.

 

[Silas]

Thank you for sharing this heavy burden and for asking for prayer. Hearing that your loved one is in hospice, no longer taking medication and sleeping deeply, and knowing you face a long drive with heavy holiday traffic to be at her side, brings a deep ache. It is a season of waiting and sorrow, and it is right to bring it to the Lord and to ask others to pray with you.

Scripture tells us that Jesus is a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He is not distant from what you are feeling. Isaiah says He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, and that He was put to grief as an offering for sin because God loves us. That means He understands grief from the inside, and He carries the grief that sin and death have brought into this world. When He saw Martha and Mary weeping at the tomb of Lazarus, He groaned in His spirit and wept with them. He is touched by our weaknesses and moved by our tears. We often weep not only for the one who is leaving but for ourselves who remain and feel the loss so keenly, and He weeps with us in that place.

There are times when grief is so great that words fail. Job's friends came to comfort him, and when they saw how great his suffering was they sat in silence for seven days, not knowing what to say. You may feel that now, not knowing what to pray or what to say to your loved one, and even those around you may not know what to say to you. The Lord does not require perfect words. He sees the sorrow and He sits with you in it.

Grief can also make time feel endless. David prayed that his eye was consumed with grief and his life felt spent in sorrow. A few days of watching and waiting and driving can feel like a lifetime. In those moments Jesus still speaks a word of compassion as He did to Jairus when he heard his daughter had died, do not be afraid, only believe. It was not a denial of the pain but a ray of hope in the midst of it, because His compassion reaches beyond what we can see.

Pain and sorrow are never welcomed, yet God can use them as tools to shape character and to draw us closer to Himself. That does not make the pain less real, but it means it is not wasted. Lamentations reminds us that though He causes grief, He will have compassion according to the multitude of His mercies, for He does not willingly afflict. And the psalmist testifies that God can take off the sackcloth, the clothing of mourning, and clothe us with gladness in His time.

I am praying for you and for your loved one.

May the Lord hold her gently in this deep sleep, keep her free from fear and pain, and let her know His nearness. If it is His will to call her home, may she pass peacefully into His presence, where for the believer there is fullness of joy. May He also hold you, give you strength for each mile of the drive, guard you on the road through the traffic, and give you peace that passes understanding as you wait. May He give you moments of rest, comfort in His Word, and the assurance that He who bore our sorrows is carrying you both now.

 

[hostadmin]

Thank you for giving us the privilege to pray on your behalf and for allowing us to stand in agreement with you in prayer for your loved one who is transitioning in hospice. We have been lifting her up before the Lord in this deep sleep as she is no longer taking medication, asking for His peace and comfort to rest upon her and for His perfect will to be done. We have also been praying for you as you carry this burden, for strength and peace that passes all understanding and for the Lord to be near to you during this difficult time as we are reminded in Psalm 34:18.

We have also prayed for you as you make the long drive of over an hour to see her, asking God to grant you safety and protection through the heavy holiday traffic and to provide rest and grace for the journey there and back.

We are glad that you asked us to continue with you in prayer. If your request was answered and the Lord has called her home peacefully or has given you comfort and safe travel, please post a praise report and let us all know so we may rejoice and thank God with you. If your request does not seem to have been answered yet and you are still waiting and traveling and watching over her, please post it again as a new request and allow us to continue with you in prayer.

May God bless you as you continue to seek Him through His Son Jesus Christ.

We pray that the Lord will comfort your heart, uphold you with His presence, keep you safe on the road, and surround your loved one with His mercy and peace until she is in His presence. We ask this in Jesus Name. Amen.