Oct
29
2011
A Prayer for the Grace of Mutual Burden Bearing
Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Gal. 6:2
Compassionate Jesus, the call to shoulder up under the burdens of friends and family drives us to you today. Otherwise we’d simply turn and walk away, just like the priest and the Levite in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). Everywhere we look, fresh stories of need and brokenness are being written. Where else can we go but to you?
Lord Jesus, it’s only because you bore the burden of the law’s demands and judgment for us; it’s only because you say to us, “Cast all your care upon me, for I care for you” (1 Pet. 5:7); it’s only because you constantly beckon us to, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28)… it’s only because you be so loving that we will risk bearing the light and heavy burdens of others.
Most burdens weigh more in emotion than in pounds. Grant us grace for the emotional messiness and drain that certain burdens bring. Help us rely on your presence more than we rely on our words. Help us be aware of our limits, but even more aware of your limitless mercy, grace, power, and peace.
For the women with confirmation of a malignant mass; for dads who just lost yet another job in this fragile economy; for couples waiting to adopt children in a throw-away child world; for parents who’ve spent all and are spent from trying to rescue kids from the ravages of an eating disorder, from the suicidal allure of self-contempt, or from some other dark, destructive thing…
For friends in vocational ministry who feel used up, chewed up and spit out; for friends who are paying a great price for a misdiagnosed medical condition; for couples who are sleeping all alone in the same bed; for those who tell us, “This is too much, I cannot and will not go on”; for our own stubborn proud selves—unwilling to be honest and very be selfish with our own burdens…
Jesus, we bring ourselves all of these friends to your throne of grace. Grant us what we need as we seek to fulfill “the law of Christ”—the law of love, the way of the gospel. Grant us mercy, strength and wisdom. So very Amen we pray, in your merciful and matchless name.