A friend went to the hospital today after his heart suddenly stopped. He's on a ventilator in ICU right now in critical condition. Please Lord, heal this person and support him through his recovery. Give his lungs the strength to work on their own and his heart the perseverance to keep fighting. Restore his brain to full functioning capacity and hold him up as he learns to walk and talk and function again through any long-term damage he has suffered.

Please Lord, support the family and friends of this person as they in turn support him through his medical condition and recovery. Give them the strength also to support each other, to set aside any disagreements or past controversies, and to work together to give my friend and each other whatever they can provide to help make it through this tough time. Please also deliver to everybody involved all the relevant information so that they can make the best decisions. Give us all the courage to be and do what we know is right.

Lord, if this is not to be, and my friend does not make it, I ask you to please give everybody the opportunity to address whatever unresolved issues they may have, as well as the acuity to see the opportunities you open to us and the courage to take advantage of them.

My friend and I have never dealt with a specific hurt, so please give us both the humility to ask for forgiveness and the compassion to give it without being asked. Visit grace on all of his family and friends and let them accept whatever decisions are made without jealousy or judgement and to be harmoniously present with each other and with You to work through their coming loss, if that be your will.

Finally, Lord, please grant me strength, grace, and love so that I can be a source of healing to those who are hurt, a pillar of strength for those who need support, and a source of compassionate honesty for those who seek advice or a friendly space to reflect on all that has happened.

Lord, please have mercy on us all. Amen.

A Bible passage to meditate on:
2 Corinthians 1:3-5
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.