A Prayer for Those Left Behind After Suicide

Suicide is a tragic loss that brings tremendous pain into the lives of the family and friends who are left behind. It also can leave us unsure how best to minister to the survivors in our flock. However, we dispense grace and hope best, especially upon receiving the awful news, through our comforting presence and our prayers. Here is an example of how you, as a pastor, can pray for those who grieve.

• God of all comfort, who comforts your children in times of affliction, comfort those who are grieving in their time of extreme loss. Minister to the indescribable pain that gnaws at their heart every moment of every day. Help them remember Jesus and His indescribable suffering so that they will run to Him as the faithful and compassionate High Priest for every sinner who turns to Him in repentant faith.
• God of peace, govern their hearts in this time of great confusion. Help them take their hundreds of questions and “what ifs,” which swirl furiously in their minds, to Jesus, the Prince of Peace, who has the power to calm their storm. As the Holy Spirit helps them take their anxieties to you in prayer, flood their souls with the peace that passes all understanding. When they cannot pray—when their hearts and minds are so overtaken by grief that they cannot find a word—remind them that the Holy Spirit prays for believers when they do not know how to pray.
• God of justice and righteousness, steady their mind’s understanding that you know all things, which includes the ultimate state of their loved one’s soul. Let them not place blame upon themselves that does not rightfully belong to them. Remind them that the Judge of all the earth always judges righteously. Let them rest in Him. Let them to now focus on the state of their own soul before their holy Creator and quickly run to Christ as the Redeemer who came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. May they find the assurance of their own salvation, and eternal life, which you promise to those who turn to Jesus Christ.
• God of mercy and grace, may they know your presence as you walk with them through this valley of death. May they know—in an experiential, not merely intellectual, way—the sufficiency of your grace! Help them rest in the truth that they do not need to live off yesterday’s supply, but drink from the fresh stream of your mercies that are new this very morning.
• God of truth, gently lead them to the green pastures of your Word where they will feed their hurting, doubting souls on all your righteous judgments and faithful promises. Lead them to streams of living water, which flow from Christ, who said, “The water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
• Heavenly Father, knowing that every one of these requests can only be answered in, through, and because of Jesus, draw them close to the Savior who invites them to let Him carry their burden. Hold them close in your loving arms. Cause them to know you more deeply as the Father of mercies and God of all comfort so that their every need will be fully met and they—in time—will become ministers of comfort to others.

[Based on 2 Corinthians 1:3-6; Hebrews 4:15; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Isaiah 9:6; Philippians 4:6-8; Romans 8:26; Mark 7:37; Daniel 4:37; Psalm 67:4; Luke 5:30; 1 John 5:11-13; Psalm 23:4; 2 Corinthians 12:9; Lamentations 3:21-23; Psalm 23:2; 119:7; John 4:14; 2 Corin.]

For further guidance on how best to minister to those left behind, see Help! Someone I Love Died by Suicide by pastor and chaplain Bruce Ray.

©2023, 2024 Paul Tautges. Used with permission.