God, you are our refuge and strength, our present help in times of trouble. We pray for the people of Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, and Illinois who have suffered such loss from this weekend’s devastating tornadoes. May the towns and communities laid waste find strength in the days to come, leaning on one another as they find a way to rebuild.
May the lives lost be mourned, celebrated, and remembered. May the grieving know the peace only you can provide. As disaster relief workers come to help, we pray for the safety of our first responders. We pray for the power to be restored, for vulnerable populations to be protected from economic loss, for churches destroyed to know resurrection.
We trust that you are present, God, in the midst of this devastation and pain. May those of us spared from the destruction of the tornadoes mobilize and organize to be the helpers you have called and created us to be. May we be the body of Christ for one another in the days and weeks to come. Amen.
