Monday Morning Manna: Prayer Offered at the Memorial Service of a Long-time Friend

In the stillness of this time and place, we lift our hurting hearts to You, O God. Thank You for life, and specifically the life of the one we celebrate today, and for allowing these family members and friends to share life with them. Thank You for the assurance that we who are believers, will once again share life with them in Your eternal heaven (John 14:1-3). Thank You for the gift of memory which will allow a continuation of thoughts about them for the next days, weeks, years. Relieve our broken hearts. Comfort our sorrow. Especially comfort the family, today, tomorrow, next week, next month, and every time they miss their loved one. Increase our faith in the unseen and the unknown. Even with the remains before us, we look up, for we know they is no longer here. They are absent from this body and already present with You (2 Corinthians 5:8). Remind us all that there is more to life than dying, and more to death than the grave. For that we say, hallelujah and Amen.

Dr. Dan Crawford, Senior Professor at Southwestern Baptist Seminary, is the WestCoast Baptist Association’s Spiritual Life & Leadership Mentor. Follow Dan on Twitter @DrDanRC and Facebook www.facebook.com/dan.crawford.