Dear Father,

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I come before You, recognizing that You are not just the Author of my story, but also its Editor and Publisher. No matter the twists and turns ahead, I find solace in knowing You walk alongside me through every chapter. In this moment, I confess my grief over the dream that felt so close, but slipped away. Lord, I wrestle with the question: Why didn't You grant me this desire that burns within my heart? Still, I cling to the truth that You are good, that Your ways are perfect, and that Your plan for my life is crafted with love.

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Help me hold onto these truths as I navigate this painful loss. I ask for Your comfort, Lord. Please grant me even a glimpse of understanding as I grapple with the absence of my dream. Instill in me a flicker of hope, even as I face uncertainty and doubt.

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If my dream is still meant to unfold, but requires more time, please reignite my heart with a spark of hope. Let that hope nurture the fading embers within me until the day I see my dream come to fruition.

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But if my dream is not Your will and plan for my life, in Your gracious love for me, please remove the dream from my heart.

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In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Dear Father,

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I sit down in the High God’s presence,
and spend the night in Shaddai’s shadow,
I say: “God, you’re my refuge.
I trust in you and I’m safe!”
That’s right—You rescue me from hidden traps,
shield me from deadly hazards.
Your huge outstretched arms protect me—under them I’m perfectly safe;
Your arms fend off all harm.
I fear nothing—not wild wolves in the night, not flying arrows in the day,
Not disease that prowls through the darkness,
not disaster that erupts at high noon.
Even though others succumb all around,
drop like flies right and left,
no harm will even graze me.

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I stand untouched, watch it all from a distance,
watch the wicked turn into corpses.
Yes, because You are my refuge,
the High God is my very own home,
Evil can’t get close to me,
harm can’t get through the door.
You ordered Your angels
to guard me wherever I go.
If I stumble, they’ll catch me;
their job is to keep me from falling.
I walk unharmed among lions and snakes,
and kick young lions and serpents from the path.

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God you tell me “If I hold on to You for dear life,” You will get me out of any trouble.
You will give me the best of care
 when I get to know and trust You.
You tell me to call You and You will {always} answer. You will be at my side in bad times; You will rescue me, then throw me a party.
You will give me a long life, and You will give me a long drink of salvation!”

Dear Father,

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In this time of grief, please grant me the patience to allow my sorrow to unfold at its own pace. Please help me to honor my unique journey and the depths of my loss, without comparison to others. May I find comfort in the memories of those I've loved, both family and friends, and may I seek the strength to express my needs to those around me.

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Guide me through the waves of sorrow, reminding me that my feelings are valid and not confined by others' expectations. Let me embrace this natural process of healing, knowing that my grief is a reflection of the love I hold.

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Be with me in my suffering and pain, as my life is uncertain.  As I wait for you. Holding the shattered pieces as you place them back together one by one, giving me a glimpse of the future hope you placed in my heart.

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In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Dear Father,

 

In this quiet moment of sorrow, we turn our hearts to You, yearning for Your comfort. The weight of grief presses upon our souls as we mourn the loss of loved ones and the dreams that have slipped away. Life’s changes and challenges, whether they be our health or the health of those we cherish, weigh heavily on us. The pain of trauma and the shifting dynamics within our families open us to vulnerability.

 

Please help us find strength in our weakness, hope in despair, and peace amidst turmoil. Guide us through our journey of healing, reminding us that we are never alone in our suffering.

 

In Your embrace, grant us the courage to face each day and the faith to believe that joy can rise from the ashes of grief. We count on You because You never disappoint. We need You, Father. Please come.

 

In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Dear Father,

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I come before you with a heart full of gratitude and reverence. I stand in the power of Your Name, declaring victory over every challenge that seeks to rise against me and my loved ones. Your Word promises that no weapon formed against us shall prosper, and I hold onto that promise today.

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I call upon Your mighty angels to surround and protect my family. May they stand guard over our hearts, minds, and homes, creating a fortress of safety and peace. Lord, I ask that You empower us to thwart any plans of the enemy that may come our way.

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Send forth Your Spirit, Lord, to ignite prayers within us, to breathe life into intercession for our needs and those of others. May we become vessels of Your will, shining Your light in every dark corner, bringing hope and healing to the broken.

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Let Your Kingdom reign in our hearts and our home. We declare Your authority over every situation, knowing that with You, we are more than conquerors. We give You all the glory, honor, and praise, for You are our protector, our provider, and our strength.

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In Jesus' Name.. Amen.

Dear Father,

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Grant us the wisdom to discern the lessons in each season. We remember, as Ecclesiastes teaches, there is a time for everything under heaven. Help us embrace the changes that come our way and trust wholeheartedly in Your perfect timing. We seek healing for the pain, comfort for the sorrow, and hope for the despair. May we become instruments of Your peace in a world that often feels fractured. Teach us to extend grace and understanding to others, and to shine brightly as a source of light amidst darkness.

 

As we each navigate our unique journey through life, let us continually seek to honor You through our words and actions. May our lives be reflections of Your love, and may we discover profound joy in the purpose You have placed before us. Help us approach life with hearts that grow in gratitude.

 

In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

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Oh Christ, in whom the final fulfillment of all hope is held and secure, I bring to you now the weathered fragments of my former dreams, the rent patches of hopes worn thin, the shards of some shattered image of life as I once thought it would be.

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What I so wanted has not come to pass, I invested my hopes in desires that returned only sorrow and frustration.​Those dreams, like glimmering faerie feasts, could not sustain me, and in my head I know that you are sovereign even over this -- over my tears, my confusion, and my disappointment.

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But I still feel, in this moment, as if I have been abandoned, as if you do not care that these hopes have collapsed to rubble. ​And yet I know this is not so. You are the sovereign of my sorrow.

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You apprehended a wider sweep with wiser eyes than mine. My history hears the fingerprints of grace. ​You were always faithful, though I could not always trace quick evidence of your presence in my pain, yet did you remain at work, lurking in the wings, sifting all my splinterings for bright embers that might be breathed into more eternal dreams.

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I have seen so oft in retrospect, how you had not neglected me, but had, with a master's care, flared my desire like silver in a crucible to burn away some lesser longing, and bring about your better vision. ​So let me remain tender now, to how you would teach me.

 

My disappointments reveal so much about my own agenda for my life, and the ways I quietly demand that it should play out: free of conflict, free of pain, free of want. My dreams are all so small. ​Your bigger purpose has always been for my greatest good, that I would day-to-day be fashioned into a more fit vessel for the indwelling of your Spirit, and molded into a more compassionate emissary of your coming Kingdom.

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And you, in love, will use all means to shape my heart into those perfect forms. ​So let this disappointment do its work.

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My truest hopes have never failed, they have merely been buried beneath the shoveled muck of disillusion, or encased in a carapace of self-serving desire. It is only false hopes that are brittle, shattering like shells of thin glass, to reveal the diamond hardness of the unshakeable eternal hopes within.

 

So shake and shatter all that hinder my growth, O God. Unmask all false hopes, that my one true hope might shine out unclouded and undimmed.So let me be tutored by this new disappointment. ​Let me listen to its holy whisper, that I may release at last these lesser dreams. ​That I might embrace the better dreams you dream for me, and for your people, and for your kingdom, and for your creation.

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Let me join myself to these, investing all hope in the one hope that will never come undone or betray those who place their trust in it. ​Teach me to hope, O Lord, always and only in you. You are the King of my collapse. ​You answer not what I demand, but what I do not even know what to ask.

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Now take this dream, this husk, this chaff of my desire, and give it back reformed and remade according to your better vision, or do not give it back at all.

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Here in the ruins of my wrecked expectation, let me make this confession: Not my dreams, O Lord, not my dreams, but yours, be done. Amen.

by Douglas Kaine McKelvey

(Romans 8:28, Ephesians 2:10)