Easter in grief means we grieve with hope, but we still grieve. If you’re missing someone this Easter, it’s okay to celebrate God’s amazing grace while also bracing ache of loss. When you don’t have words to pray or need to put words to the mix of your emotions, pray this prayer for missing someone at Easter.
Holidays make the reality of loss more acute and this is especially true on Easter with family gatherings, special traditions, and favorite foods make the loss stand out even more. Pictures on our feed make it seem everyone around us is celebrating with their in-tact families which can leave us feeling more alone in our grief.
Easter holds both the hard reality of death and the beautiful reminder of resurrection. We have Easter hope in grief because Jesus paid the penalty for our sin on the cross and defeated death through resurrection. Our last breath here will be our first breath with God as we are alive in Christ.
Jesus’ resurrection also means we have the sure promise of eternity with God, where there is no more suffering and Jesus will wipe away every tear. We can look forward to a day when we see our loved ones in Christ again.
But Easter also holds a paradox for us. While we will never feel the sting of death because of Jesus’ finished work on the cross, we feel the sting of grieving loss and those who have gone to heaven before us.
Whether this is your first Easter without your beloved one or your 21st Easter, it’s okay to celebrate our resurrected Savior and Redeemer and also deeply miss someone at your table. May this prayer meet you in your honest ache this Holy Week.
A Prayer for Missing Someone at Easter
Lord, I stand in awe once again that you willingly chose to be wounded for me, that you suffered in my place, and that you went to the cross to pay the penalty for my sin. Good Friday for me meant that you endured brutal pain and betrayal and death. Thank you for loving me so much that you stretched your hands on a cross and died in my place. I praise you and magnify you. You are my Redeemer and Savior and the only One worthy to be Lord.
Your resurrection means I grieve with real hope. Your resurrection means my beloved one is alive with you and that I can look forward to eternity with you and them. Your resurrection means I have life here, and while my heart hurts, I cling to the promise that your good and life and joy are for me. Your resurrection means you have the final word and that my story will not end in ashes.
Lord, this Easter, you see my ache and understand my pain. Thank you for being with me in this and for giving me your sustaining grace through each hard moment. I know your resurrection power is alive in me. Because you live, I can face tomorrow. And because you live, this life is worth living. Draw me close to you, continue to heal every sorrow, and redeem every piece of brokenness for my good and your glory. I love you with my whole heart. Help me love you more. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Bible Verses for Easter Hope in Grief
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” Romans 8:18 (ESV)
“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer selfis wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen…” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (ESV)
“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope…And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 (ESV)
“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.’” John 11:25-26 (ESV)
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” 1 Peter 1:3-4 (ESV)
“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 3:6-7 (ESV)
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” Romans 8:31-32 (ESV)
“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39 (ESV)
“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 (ESV)
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