The worst fire in Colorado history occurred this past week in my hometown of Colorado Springs, more specifically in the Black Forest area. Many people have lost their homes and many of those have been my dear friends and members in our church. There are no words at a time like this when you watch something change lives right before your eyes.
I sat at my desk yesterday morning with nothing to say, nothing to pray. So, I prayed for a prayer. The following is what poured from my pen.
Oh God, tend to our grieving hearts, we so desperately need you. Revive our hearts and teach us to live again. Strengthen us for the road that now lays ahead. We are a broken people, but we are yours O God. Let our hearts not faint or grow weary beyond words, but let our mouths be filled to the brim with the unchanging truth of your goodness and faithfulness.
Remind us that your character is not founded in circumstances, it is not changed by tragedies, your character is the same yesterday, today, and forever because you yourself are the immovable unchangeable foundation upon which all good things are built. May we declare together that you are our rock and refuge in times of trouble. That you are our God and your faithfulness and love towards us as your people has no end. When we walk through the rubble and the fragility of our lives remind us that you are established and Your kingdom shall never perish or fade. Though our foundations have crumbled, you O God, you have not.
Thank you that you are a God who rouses Himself from His throne and draws near to hear the cries of His people. I can see you tilting your head to our voices and sprinkling us and our land with your tears of love in answer to our prayers. You have not moved away from those who call upon your name. Though the mountains be leveled around us, you O God are our firm foundation and our pleasant boundary. With you, our treasures are secure.
We have come to you O Lord, lifting our grief, our deep sadness, our loss to you. Holy Spirit we ask that with the power you exerted to raise Christ from the dead that you would lift our swollen tear soaked eyes to you. May our eyes find new light and joy in the reflection of your glorious face. For you are not a dead Savior. You are risen and seated with the head of our family, our Father, the head of the Kingdom which even now, holds rooms and places prepared just for us. Raise us up O God, out of the ashes that are our lives. Set our feet, strengthen our feeble knees and remind us of the glorious kingdom that longs for us all to be together, to be home.
Let our weeping work its way into worship. Let truth be the foundation of our hearts. May your words, the power of your Holy Spirit, and your unending love towards those who believe demonstrate that we are more than conquerors because we abide in Christ Jesus our Lord, our Savior, our King in whom no death or defeat is found.
May we see the glorious end to our grief through the eyes of your grace. Help us to look up and hear you whisper that there is a day coming when our suffering will meet its complete end. We are not a people who shrink back because you are not a God who waivers in His will. Your face is set and your heart committed to us, your people, the ones who are called to carry your glory.
May we bless you in our brokenness. May we worship you in our weakness. May we love you with our lives, now and forevermore. For as we walk this road with perseverance let us find our character has grown to look more like yours Jesus. As we find ourselves different than we were before, may hope be the strength that carries us down the road you have set before us. And O God, let that hope sustain us as you pour it to overflowing into our hearts as we continue to walk with you.
O you people of the one and only God, stand in your place within the grace that has covered you. Have your fill of His peace. Rest O you people in the presence of love. All is not lost. There is still life in you.
To you our GOD be the glory forever and forever, AMEN.
