Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. (2Corinthians 1:3-7)
Holy Spirit I pray today for all of the families that have suffered suicide. The pain of losing someone this way is so different and so difficult to process. I pray that You will comfort them and help them work through the grief, the doubt, the feelings of guilt and shame. I pray that You will help them to learn to live life again with not forgetting, but not stopping either. Holy Spirit for all of the people out their considering suicide bring people into their lives that can demonstrate hope and a different path to take. Help them to realize the hurt that will happen when they are gone. Holy Spirit help us all understand that there is no easy answer to suicide. Whether it is depression, lost hope, bitterness at life, shame for something done, feeling like a failure, or mental illness, or even being tormented by demons whether spiritual or mental or their past with unforgiveness in it.
Holy Spirit help us who meet people considering suicide to be encouragers, to be ready to give an answer to the hope that lies within us. Help us to be led by Your Holy Spirit to know what to say, how to help, who to contact and to make us aware within our spirit that something is wrong or different so that we pay attention to the needs of others. Help our words to be admonishing and encouraging not tearing people down. Help us to value life, especially since You gave it to us, as a precious time to learn who You are and to serve You with all our hearts.
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9-11) In Jesus’ name, Amen.