A Prayer for When You Grieve a Loved One in Heaven - Your Daily Prayer - November 22
A Prayer for When You Grieve a Loved One in Heaven
By Lisa Appelo
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” - Revelation 21:4
I stooped to give my 7-year-old a goodnight hug and pray with him. He’d made a pallet on the carpet in my bedroom, something he often did after Dan, my husband, died.
By day, he played like all the other little boys in the neighborhood. You’d never know he was carrying a heavy blanket of grief.
On this night, I listened as Matt prayed. He thanked God for the good day and prayed for kids all over the world that needed help. And then he closed with this:
Tell my dad I said hello.
A thousand knives went through my heart.
Those words held pain but they also held connection.
Dan on that side of heaven, us on this side. Him in the presence of God, us still walking it out in faith. Him face to face with God, us still veiled from full glory.
Heaven had always seemed far off in time and space. It was a sure thing but a someday thing, so distant from the busy days of our life raising kids and paying bills.
And then it wasn’t.
Death had brought pain but it also brought connection. I wish I could say I felt that connection to heaven before, but Dan’s death made it immediate and palpable. Like we had a deposit, waiting for us just after we met Jesus.
Because when you love someone in heaven, you carry part of heaven in your heart.
It was in church that I could most easily picture Dan in heaven. Caught up with the words and music of worship, I imagined him just the other side of eternity.
Us in our pew, him in the true tabernacle. All eyes on Christ. All of us worshiping. All of us part of one body.
The body of Christ is more than my congregation. It’s more than the believers in the next city over and next continent over. The body of Christ includes believers right now in the presence of God.
As we worship God here, we’re joining the chorus of believers worshiping in heaven.
As we serve God here, we’re joining the band of believers serving in heaven.
As we praise God here, we’re joining the multitude of believers praising in heaven.
The seen and the unseen. The groaning and the freed. Those whose life is Christ and those whose death is gain.
Yes, Lord Jesus. Tell him we said hello.
A Prayer for When You Grieve a Loved One in Heaven
Lord,
My heart is feels like a thousand knives are running through it. I am weary, spent, and just so sad. Please, help me! Hear my prayers. Hold me and my family up. Give us strength. Be present. Be persistent in your love. Carry us through this heartache. Sustain us. Bring us joy and hope.
In Your Name I pray, Amen.
Editor’s Note: This devotional was taken in part from Lisa Appelo’s When We Grieve a Loved One in Heaven. You can read her piece in full here.
Related Resource: Establishing a Routine of Rest
For a long time, rest felt less like a gift and more like a guilty indulgence — something to be earned, something to feel vaguely ashamed of, something that productive, faithful people did not really need. In a world that measures worth by output, the idea of stopping feels dangerously close to falling behind.
But what if rest is not optional? What if it was never meant to be? Tonight, lay down the hustle. Receive the gift. This is exactly what you were made for. Your Nightly Prayer is a daily Christian prayer podcast from the LifeAudio Podcast Network and Crosswalk.com. Each night, the team behind Crosswalk.com brings you a devotional and prayer to help you end your day in conversation with God. May these nightly prayers help you find the words to pray and focus your heart and mind on the love of God as you end your day. If you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode!
