CHAPTER NINETEEN: NEVER AGAIN

God, we need your help to make sense of this world – to find hope when everything around us is unreliable and corrupt – to feel love and acceptance when we have been hurt and rejected. 

Please help us. Heal us. Forgive us. Restore us.

Lord, we confess that when we witness suffering and injustice, it is hard to believe you exist. Help us to see that we as humans keep messing up, but that you are a constant source of love and truth. So often we look to other people to save us and then they harm and betray us. Help us to realize that you are the only one who will never let us down and that you will never abandon us, or trick us.

God, please heal the broken pieces of our lives. We place our pain, our shame, our anger and our heartache at your feet and ask that you transform it and change us. Help us to believe your promises and experience the love you feel for us. Help us to know that regardless of what life has done to us, we are beloved, accepted, and valuable to you. 

Lord, forgive us for judging people and ignoring their suffering. Forgive us for seeing the needs of our neighbours and walking by. Give us the courage to respond in practical and respectful ways. Thank you for those who have reached out and offered hope at great cost to themselves. Help us to see that even small gestures of eye contact, a smile, or a gentle touch offer dignity and show people that they matter.

Oh God, please restore each one of us to the person you created us to be. We long to thrive, but our dreams have been shattered. We so want to belong, but never feel safe. We desire friendships, but are afraid to trust. We crave peace, but our hearts are restless and filled with self-hatred. Help us to reach out to you and begin to know you.

Thank you that when we can’t find the words or are too afraid to talk to you, you understand our tears and know the deepest desires of our hearts. Thank you that although we feel misunderstood and isolated you are always there beside us assuring us that our lives have meaning, and that we belong. Thank you that by drawing close to you we will never again be alone. Father, please fill us with the healing joy that comes when we have a relationship with you.

Please come God. Come and help us, heal us, forgive us, and restore us.

Amen.

Adrienne Grant is passionate about young people, a passion deepened by her role as mom to her own four young children. As a public speaker, administrator, fundraiser, or on the front lines, Adrienne has worked with youth most of her life, especially those who are struggling to find self worth and a place to belong. Adrienne holds a Masters degree in Social Work and has had the privilege of working for World Vision, Sketch and Meet the Street.

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