Loss

Sometime when praying, I will pray, "Lord, how do You want me to pray?"  I started making this a part of my prayer discipline a few years ago when I found myself in a situation where I thought prayer was needed for someone's healing; yet, up upon asking and listening for a time in the silence which followed the question, the one word which came was, "Peace.  Pray for peace."  Over the years I have learned that this prayer question usually has a response of one word.  I have also struggled with the difficulty of listening for the voice of God in the recesses of my heart and separating that Word from some word I want to be the answer.

 

This morning as I prayed, the one word which surfaced in my spirit was the word, "Loss."  Maybe it came in part from seeing a congregation of folks and knowing that all of us have been overwhelmed at different times in different ways by loss.  Maybe it was the Holy Spirit giving direction and help in this day.  Maybe it was not one, but both, and maybe even something more being experienced at a sub-conscious level.  It is true.  We all have some kind of loss in our lives.  Some experience it through divorce, others through death.  For some it is the loss of dreams, or a job, or maybe, even hope.  And, some experience it as a loss of faith in God.  Regardless of how it is experienced, it is a devastating moment for anyone of us.

So, it is understandable that we should be directed to pray for those who endure and suffer loss.  Telling someone else that experience has taught us there is life after loss is not much comfort to one overwhelmed by it.  Barging into someone else's personal struggle with our own formula for dealing with it is not nearly as good a thing to do as praying for the one who is overcome by the loss in their life.  We can all look around us and see someone hurting from loss and we can all bow our heads and lift their name before the Father who not only knows about loss, but also is the One who can lead those struggling to a different and better place.