Prayer for Virginia Tech
The eyes of the LORD are
toward the righteous,
And His ears are open to
their cry,
The face of the LORD is
against evildoers,
To cut off the memory of
them from the earth.
The righteous cry and the
LORD hears,
And delivers them out of
all their troubles.
The LORD is near to the
brokenhearted,
And saves those who are
crushed in spirit.
Many are the afflictions
of the righteous;
But the LORD delivers him
out of them all.
Psalms 34:15-19
Father God,
I come before You today, one of many outside the Virginia Tech circle who watch with anguish and pain. How we ache for this Hokie Nation.I pray Father that as the shock wears off and the anger sets in that You are will be there. As the finger-pointing begins, I pray You will be there. As the students go back to school and attempt to shake the horror of that day, Lord You will be there.
Be present as each beloved person is buried. Be present as each of the wounded heals. As each family begins the steps of life without, I pray You are present.The days of mourning will soon pass Father. Be there through each step. As families deal with the loss, the grief, the anger, the frustrations, the weariness, the anguish. That first birthday without. That first Thanksgiving and Christmas be ever present.
Father, it has now been over 10 years that you have been tending to my pain and my loss over the death of my child. You are ever faithful. You have shown me grace and mercy. You have developed compassion and a gentleness within me. You have shown me that the answers are not always forthcoming to those "why" questions but that ultimately You are the answer to ever question. This I pray for each grieving person today.Death is a part of life, but we as parents always plan that our children will bury us- I have found no word for a parent who must bury their child- we have orphans, widows, widowers but no word for the pain, this emptiness this loss of something so precious.
You, Lord, understand this pain. You know the power and emptiness of separation. You understand the anguish of death by brutality. You know the grief and You, Father, through your own sacrifice, comprehend this pain so intense that there is no word for those who carry on.But carry on we must. We must fight to live, and not just live, but to be alive in our living. We must hold our good memories close and let the bad slip away. We must celebrate that gift of life You have allowed us to share in. We must celebrate those who go before us. We must live a bit more wildly, love more easily, smile more often, care more quickly, forgive more freely- we must do it because we need it Lord and because they deserve it.
Be present today Father, in our pain and in our living.
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