DAY 22 | PRAY FOR THOSE DEALING WITH GRIEF

Pastor Sanford McQueen | Word of Faith, Southfield, MI

https://vimeo.com/1136651489

Well, hello everyone. I am Pastor Sanford McQueen here at Word of Faith in Southfield, Michigan, and it is my pleasure to encourage you on day 22 of our 30-day prayer campaign to pray for those that are dealing with grief. Now, the Bible has some good news to say about that. As a matter of fact, the Bible says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. But even in addition to that, God sees death as being sleep. Let's take a look at a couple of scriptures concerning that. In Matthew chapter 9, verse number 24, there was a 12-year-old girl that had passed away. She made her transition, and this is what Jesus said about her. He said unto the people that were gathered there, “Give place for the maid is not dead, but sleep.” Praise God. All right, let's look at another passage of Scripture concerning individuals being sleep in John chapter 11, verse number 11, about a man named Lazarus. This is what Jesus had to say. He said, “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.” And I don't know if this is encouraging you at all. As we talk about grief, it's an inevitable thing, and I'm not trying to make light of it in any way. We know that it can be a very disconcerting, terrifying situation that can last for an undetermined amount of time, but it doesn't have to be that way. When you have the Word of God and your perspective is in line with what God sees concerning death - you consider it to be the same, that it's sleep. Now, let's look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verse number 13, and the scripture reads, “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.” Now, when you talk about grief, there's a major determining factor in terms of how that process goes. For those that are not in Christ, that separation of sleep is quite different. But for those that are in Christ Jesus, there is great hope. So, encouraging you to pray for those that are dealing with grief, I want to encourage you to pray that these people will be surrounded by a loving community that would indeed impart the Word of God to them, because that truth will empower them to deal with that process. So, pray that people are saved, because that's the determining factor when the sleep process is over, and we're all going to die one day, unless Jesus comes back first, everybody's going to have this experience. So, we need to pray that more people are saved, so that when this time comes in their life, grief has no grip, because hope springs eternal. So, on day 22, I'm encouraging you to pray for people who are experiencing, who are maneuvering their way through grief.