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A Prayer for Friends/Family in Dark, Entangled, Broken Stories

     Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. Col. 4:12 (NIV)

     Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. Rom. 8:26 (ESV)

     Dear heavenly Father, quite literally, sometimes all we can do is pray for certain family members and friends—people we love, who live in the vortex of mental and emotional illness; others who are willing participants and suppliers of their own destructive addictions; still others whose rage, pain, and trauma have more power over their lives than the true Trinity.

     Father, help us to know what our limits are in these situations; what loving well in dark brokenness looks like; and what resources are available to us. Teach us how, like Epaphras, to wrestle in prayer for our loved ones, without, literally, wrestling with them one on one. Some situations are beyond reason, conventional care, or safe interactions. Help us Lord; help us.

     It’s heartbreaking to watch people we love become people we fear. It’s unnerving to hear threats of self-destructive behavior, and to feel helpless—even hopeless in the midst of the emotional frenzy, rage-fueled words, and irrational activity. It’s paralyzing to feel responsible but incapable of helping. Help us Lord; help us.

     Father, thank you that the Spirit is praying in us and for us, when we don’t know what to pray, do, or say. And as the Spirit prays, Father, I pray for those for whom this prayer isn’t a memory or a theory, but a present reality. Lead my brothers and sisters to the right resources, to the best of gospel-wisdom, and to the professional caregivers tailored for their individual stories and struggles. None of us is enough; we need you, Father, and all the grace you will give us. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ tender and triumphant name.  

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