Prayers following the Barn Mead fire in Harlow

In this last week great tragedy and grief has struck our town.

How do we respond?

We respond as God did. God in Christ came amongst us at the first Christmas. As a grown man, he went to the tomb of a friend, and we read ‘Jesus wept’.

Weeping is not all Christ did; but that is where he began.

In weeping we share in our common humanity

As we allow ourselves to weep and to mourn

We know and see ‘the other’.

We begin to see them as God sees them.

We who spend so much time seeing ourselves

see the other,

and their need.

And that is why we pray and why we need to pray.

Prayer unlocks our hearts.

Prayer unlocks them to action

Prayer draws us to one another.

That is not all that prayer does. For as we are drawn to one another

God is enabled to work

in us and through us

and he hears our prayers

And the prayers we utter now were answered 2000 years ago

when Christ suffered with us

on the cross,

and arose from the dead

opening the door into God’s eternity

So today, we remember:

Sabah Usmani, and her children Sohaib, Muneeb, Rayyan, Hira and Maheen.

We pray for their father Abdul Shakoor

We remember and pray for all their neighbours, friends, family, and all involved this last week.

 It is right that we bring our grief and anguish to God

Psalm 6:6,7

I am weary with my moaning;
    every night I flood my bed with tears;
    I drench my couch with my weeping.

My eye wastes away because of grief;
    it grows weak because of all my foes.

It is right that we bring our questions to God.

One the cross Jesus cried: 

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.

Lord, there are times when I am worn out with grief,

With no way forward and no way back.

Surely you are supposed to hear my cries,

And have mercy and save me.

But still my pillow becomes wet from my tears;

My body loses its appetite;

My mind falters;

My soul is weak to the point of exhaustion.

As trouble overwhelms me,

And panic sets in and I have nowhere to turn,

My only words are to you;

God give me strength. Amen

(Derek Browning)

[2 minutes silence]

Psalm 121: 1-2

I lift up my eyes to the hills – from whence will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. O God our refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble, we seek your comfort and your blessing for those who mourn the death of those they love, for all whose lives are torn apart by violence, for all the suffering people of the world; through Jesus Christ our Lord

Gracious God,

through your Son you have taught us

that nothing in life or in death

is able to separate us from your love.

Look in mercy on all to whom overwhelming sorrow has come.

Help all who are injured

Comfort all in anguish.

Strengthen the members of the emergency services -

the Fire Brigade, The Ambulance Service, the Police, PAH and Broomfield Hospitals,

and all who bring relief and comfort.

Console and protect Dr Shakoor

Give your light in darkness

to all who are near despair,

and assure them that you hold us all in your arms of love

through Jesus Christ our risen Lord.

Amen.

 A prayer scratched on the wall of a prison cell in Cologne during the Second World War

I believe in the sun,
even when it does not shine.
I believe in love,
even when I cannot feel it.
I believe in God,
even when he is silent.