A New Beginning

When Dawn Breaks
oil on canvas by Gregory Frank Harris

This is the prayer for blessing and comfort for our family by Atty. Lyndon Cana on November 26, 2008 during the necrological service for my husband Ernie.

I want it to be my first post for 2009.

“Lord, you are the God of the widow, the fatherless, and the orphan.
You said in Proverbs 15:25 - The LORD tears down the house of the proud, but protects the inheritance of the widow.

Today, as we lay Kuya Ernie to his earthly rest, we pray for the family and loved ones that he leaves behind.

We pray for Ate Lidj. We bless her with ISAIAH 54:

She will sing, not a song of lament, but a song of praise
You will enlarge her sphere of influence

She will stretch wide open the welcome embrace of her ministry
She will lengthen the cords of her intercession

She will deepen the stakes of her faith and her hold on the promises of the LORD.

Four things she is assured of: There will be

no fear,

no disgrace,

she will suffer no shame,

no humiliation.

She will not live the life of a decapitated widow or as an injured half of a whole.

Rather she will rediscover a new sense of wholeness and completeness because

You, O, Lord, are her husband, the LORD Almighty is Your Name, the Holy One of Israel is her Redeemer, He is the GOD of all the earth.

While she may miss her husband, she will not lament a loss, but celebrate a legacy.

While she will feel his absence in the vacuum that he leaves behind, she will be overwhelmed by the overfilling presence of the happy memories that they have wrought together as husband and wife.

The memories will not sadden her but sanctify her,

instead of resignation, there will be resolution,
instead of depression, determination
the past will not be a burden to carry,
but an inspiration to carry on.

The rest of her life will not be a second best but a different kind of another best.

For as you have blessed her with a husband,
So now she will be pleasantly surprised to be blessed with herself,
because before she was a wife,
she was and is first of all a person,redeemed and loved by the LORD.

We bless the entire household with the blessings of Psalm 112:

Blessed is the man who fears the Lord and finds great delight in His commands.

Their children will be successful.
They themselves will be prosperous…
Light will shine for them.
They will not be terrorized by bad news.
Their hearts will ever be steadfast, trusting in the Lord.

The children will find meaning in the expression “the GOD of their father Ernie”, and the GOD of Ernie will be the GOD of Anna, Miguel and Cathy, and Jeremy.

We reinforce the laying of hands by grandfather Ernie on grandson Matthew.The mystic cord of prayer will bind the grandpa to the grandson and the heavens will respect the intentions of the grandfather for the grandson.

The marriages yet planned by the rest of the children, and the grandchildren already born and those yet to be born will benefit from the blessing spoken of in Exodus 20:6 that the love and favor of God shall overtake those who keep his commandments up to their generations.

We pray for the brothers and sisters and the uncles and the aunts and all the family, that they will continue the legacy of faith and service even as we thank you for the good name that Kuya Ernie has left behind.

We pray for all widows and orphans, and all families who are represented here today, that theirs be the blessing of strong marriage, faithfulness of spouses, devotion to the Lord, a good name, health and provision, and above all, purpose and meaning in life and a role to play in the kingdom of God.

Thank you for the unbreakable promises of the Lord Almighty covenanted in this prayer today, and sealed by the matchless name and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, our redeemer and Saviour and Lord."