A Prayer for the Loss of a Child

Father, this is the grief I was never meant to carry. My child is gone, and everything in me cries out that it is wrong, that the order of things has broken, that no parent should ever have to say these words.

My arms ache with the weight they are missing. I hear echoes of a small voice in the quiet. I see the empty room, the unworn shoes, the future that will never come, and I do not know how a heart survives this.

I have no neat words for You, only this raw and bleeding honesty. I am angry and shattered and lost, and I bring all of it to You because You are the only One who can bear it.

Hold my child. I have to know they are safe and warm and gathered close to You, loved even more fiercely than I could love them, and never afraid again.

You are near to the crushed in spirit, and You count every tear I cry. You lost a child too, and so You know this particular dark from the inside.

I cannot say I understand, but I lay my child in Your arms and trust You to keep them until I can hold them again. Amen.