Heavenly Father, I come to You today as an advocate for a friend who has suffered abuse as a child and sometimes as an adult. I praise You for being the Father that often men here on earth fail to be. I praise You for being a God who loves us and knows pain and abuse by how Jesus was treated and then sent to a cross to be mocked, shamed, and killed. I praise You for Your grace.
Holy Spirit, Your word says: rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. [Romans 12:12] I come today in Your throne room and ask that You would give grace and healing to my friend Connie. I ask that You would help her to forgive, not to free her abusers but to allow herself to heal and to accept Your forgiveness. I pray that she learns that You walked with her and shared her pain, and that she has become stronger over the years. I know it is hard for us to understand why You don’t always just step in and stop evil and sin, but that would violate free will, and what would faith be? I also know that by forgiveness, she will allow for You to take vengeance, which Your word says:
Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to God’s wrath, for it is written: “Vengeance is Mine. I will repay,” says the Lord. Help Connie heal, and trust in You. Let her feel Your grace, mercy, and most of all Your love. Let her look to You a feel Your presence as You walk alongside her through the valleys of life.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast. To him be the power forever and ever. Amen. 1Peter 5:6-11