Prayer for those who suffer trauma from abuse

Heavenly Father

Who gave us his own Son, to die as a sinless man for the sins of all humankind, you know better than anyone the heinous reality of injustice. You suffered rejection then, you suffered rejection at the fall, and you’ve suffered rejection every day since. And yet, you suffer humanity so patiently. Knowing your ways are higher than our ways and your thoughts are so high above our own, we do not expect you suffer like we do, but as we’re made in your image, we know there is divine empathy for what we suffer, and as we suffer, you know acutely just how much we agonise for not being able to reconcile our pain.

You know, Lord, better than any physician, or psychologist or psychiatrist or trauma therapist, just how deep and wide and long and far the furrows of trauma go. As any of us helpers in the field of therapy are concerned, there is a mystery at play in how trauma wreaks its path of havoc for the abuse sufferers suffer. You know that every trauma sufferer needs you.

You know, Lord, that the path of life is seriously curtailed for those who suffer post-traumatic stress, and yet it’s our prayer that when we suffer for what could never be and never was our fault we would experience the very life that you accord to your faithful. Lead us in the way everlasting. Cause hope to well up and to overflow our cup. Make it that anyone who has been horrendously treated would rise up through a miraculous gifting that could only come from you. We pray you compensate them somehow.

You know, Lord, just how much the abused deserve their chance at life. You know the cost they’ve borne. You know that though few people ‘deserve’ anything, those who have been traumatised very truly deserve a fortuitous run in life. Make the way straight and clear, and the path to help, certain. Give us every good thing for our healing. And commend us all by the assurance of your Spirit for the courage we exemplify every single moment of every single day.

You know, Lord, just how much the grief of loss has cost the person who has been shabbily treated for a sustained period. You know that they carry that grief with them a long time, and just how much it affects them on a daily, even momentary basis.

Impress on our hearts, Lord, just how proud you are of us for stepping out our lives faithfully in response to cruelty. 

Help us, Lord, to feel your compassion when we respond emotionally, your poise when we feel out of control, your calmness when we’re all at sea, your grace when our mind is a fog, your comfort when our hearts are anguished.

Help us, Lord, be courageous when it comes to our healing, and praise us by your Spirit when we’re honestly humble in seeking help. Make of us paragons of example, as we admit the effects of trauma and allow the course of God’s healing, showing everyone around us that we’re gracious to and with ourselves, as we should be with everyone.

Thank you, Lord, for the leadership of the abused when they are examples of how to suffer the effects of trauma graciously. And thank you, Lord, that they bear in their mortal bodies the scars of a common or a not-so-common brokenness that encourages all of us who identify as broken.

Most of all, Lord, give us all the very things we need right now; confidence when we lack belief; patience with ourselves in our anger; compassion from and for others in disappointment; justice at the right time; great physicians and the best treatments; and comforting, encouraging fellow pilgrims.

It’s in Jesus’ name I pray, Your Son who too was abused

AMEN.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash