Grace Sufficient

A prayer for grief, from 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Paul pleaded three times for God to take the thorn away, and the thorn stayed. What came instead was a sentence: my grace is sufficient for you. A prayer for the pain that hasn't been removed, and the grace that shows up inside it anyway.

Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (NIV)

The prayer

Lord, I have pleaded with You to remove this pain, and yet it remains. Help me trust that Your grace is sufficient for me. When I am weak, then I am strong in You. May Christ's power rest on me even in my deepest grief.

Make it yours: change any words that don’t fit, or stop at the one line that’s true today. Amen can wait until you mean it.

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