God’s comfort in difficult times

Pray the News – November 6th, 2022

This week as I asked the Lord to direct my gaze in preparing for this week’s “Pray the News,” I kept sensing the Holy Spirit’s nudge to cry out for God’s comfort in difficult times. Whether we’ve experienced personal loss this week, or we’ve heard bad news locally, nationally, or globally, sometimes “the news” makes us feel overwhelmed, helpless, or alone. Before we pray together, let’s read Psalm 46, which has been a source of comfort to countless people in crises over the centuries.

Psalm 46 (NRSV) – “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns. The nations are in an uproar; the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice; the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. Come, behold the works of the Lord; see what desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. ‘Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations; I am exalted in the earth.’ The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.”

Let’s pray:

Almighty God, we confess that we sometimes feel alone or beaten up, we weep at inconvenient times, we toss and turn at night. We don’t have the words to express the aches and the pain in our hearts and minds. And so we turn to you. We cry out to you. We are desperate for you. Help us, oh God! We know that you care and that you love us. But we ask you for a fresh outpouring of an awareness of your presence, fresh rivers of grace, fresh assurance of your love. Help us to live in you, you who are our refuge from pain, you who are our peace in distress, you who are our strength in weakness. When our emotions plunge us downward, and when we are tempted to despair, help us to not fear the future but to boldly trust that you are in control. When words fail us and we just don’t know what to say, help us to ‘be still, and know that you are God.’ We turn to you for comfort, healing, peace, and hope. We ask all these things in the name of the Father, Christ Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.