A Prayer of Healing for the Brokenhearted This Christmas

　　By Alisha Headley

　　Bible Reading:

　　“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” - Matthew 11:28-30

　　Listen or Read Below:

　　Christmas is the time to reflect on the year and some of us are ending the year (or a long several years) brokenhearted. Christmas tends to bring out the pain of a broken heart to the surface as Christmas is the time to reflect on all the love around you. I’m sorry if you are in a season where there has been more pain than love and more hurt than joy. It’s even more difficult to see others around you going through seasons of gain when it feels like you are going through a season of loss of some kind leading to your broken heart.

　　While it doesn’t take away all the pain of what you’re going through this Christmas season, today’s Scripture verse reminds us of what we can do to release some of the pain. We don’t have to carry the burden of a heavy heart on our own. The circumstances already feel heavy, but carrying it all feels even heavier. Today’s verse says that we can “come to Jesus…and He will give us rest.” He might not take away and heal your brokenhearted right now, but you can rest your broken heart on Him.

　　The verse continues to say that we are to “come” and “take’” His yoke, and He does the rest. A person who carries a broken heart feels a deep amount of heaviness. In the Bible, the yoke was a double harness in which two animals pulled together. Often, one harness was larger and was meant for the stronger, more experienced animal. We don’t have to walk through this Christmas season alone with a heavy broken heart. We can harness ourselves to Jesus and let Him carry the load of our heavy hearts. We can let Him heal us day by day through His strength as He carries the heavy parts for us and the heavy load of our broken hearts.

　　All we need to do is “come to Him”...so “He can give us rest for our souls” as we harness onto Him this Christmas season. Let’s allow His strength to begin to heal our broken hearts.

　　Let’s Pray:

　　Dear Lord,

　　Our hearts are so heavy this Christmas season. Our hearts are hurting and broken, and we don’t have the strength to go through this Christmas season without you. Thank you for Scriptures like today that remind us that we don’t have to carry the hurt of our broken hearts alone. You will carry it for us because you offer the strength our broken hearts need during this season. We come to you, Lord, and ask that you give us rest, and your Word promises you will do that when we come to you because we are weary and our hearts are burdened. We cast our broken hearts onto you and attach ourselves to you so that you can now carry the hurt, pain, and brokenness our hearts feel. We trust that you have a plan for us and trust that this season won’t last forever, and you will use our brokenness for good. Help protect our hearts this Christmas season when it’s a constant reminder of just how broken we are. Fill us with your love and help us guard our hearts during this time. We love you, Lord, and thank you that we don’t have to do this alone, nor do we have to go through this Christmas season in our strength. We have your strength and rest to depend on. We thank you for that.

　　In your name, we pray, Jesus. Amen