Supporting Others Through Grief
Reflection & Prayer Prompts
Personal Reflection Questions
Take your time with these. You don't need to answer them all in one sitting. Let them sit with you.
Looking Back
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When was a time someone showed up for you during a hard season? What did they do? What made their presence feel safe or meaningful?
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Have you ever felt abandoned by people you expected to show up? What was that like? How did it shape how you think about grief and community?
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Think of a time you tried to support someone who was grieving. Looking back, what did you do well? What might you do differently now?
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Have you ever avoided a grieving person because you didn't know what to say? What was underneath that avoidance? (Fear? Discomfort? Something else?)
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Is there anyone you've lost touch with during their grief — someone you meant to reach out to but didn't? What would it look like to reconnect now?
Looking Forward
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Who in your life is currently walking through loss or a hard season? What's one thing you could do this week to be present for them?
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What's your instinct when someone is hurting? Do you tend to fix, advise, minimize, disappear, or something else? Where did that pattern come from?
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What would you need to change to become someone who is truly safe for grieving people? What's one small step you could take?
Guided Prayer Language
Use these as starting points. Make them your own.
A Prayer for Courage to Show Up
God, I confess that I often avoid pain — both my own and others'. When someone I care about is hurting, I don't always know what to say, and sometimes that keeps me from saying anything at all.
Give me the courage to show up even when I don't have answers. Help me to trust that my presence matters more than my words. Teach me to sit with someone's pain without rushing to fix it. And when I fail — when I say the wrong thing or disappear when I shouldn't — give me grace to try again.
Show me who needs me this week. And help me to be there.
A Prayer for the People I've Missed
Lord, I'm thinking of the people I haven't shown up for. The friend whose loss I acknowledged once and then moved on from. The family member whose grief made me uncomfortable. The coworker I didn't know how to help.
I don't know if it's too late to reach out. But I know that late is better than never. Give me the humility to reconnect — not with excuses, but with simple presence. Help me let go of the need to be perfect and just be available.
And for the losses I can't repair, I ask for peace. Help me do better next time.
A Prayer for Someone Grieving
God, I lift up ____________ to you. You know the weight of what they're carrying. You know the moments when they feel alone. Be near to them — not in some abstract way, but in tangible presence.
Show me how to be part of your care for them. What do they need that I could provide? A meal. A text. A visit. A listening ear. Make me attentive to what would actually help, not just what would make me feel useful.
And give them people. Surround them with a community that can carry what they cannot carry alone.
Journaling Prompts
Choose one or two of these to write about. Don't edit yourself. Just let the words come.
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Write about a time someone carried you through something. What did it feel like to be held up when you couldn't stand on your own?
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What makes it hard for you to be present with someone else's pain? What are you afraid of? What do you think you need to have that you feel you don't?
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Who has been your "Emmett"? (Dr. Cloud talks about his mother's friend Emmett, who just showed up day after day.) Write a letter to that person — even if you can't send it.
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Write about a time you wish someone had shown up but didn't. What did you need? What would it have meant to receive it?
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Imagine someone you love is going through a terrible loss. Write out what you would do, day by day, for the first month. What would showing up actually look like?
A Final Thought
Dr. Cloud says that helping someone through grief is one of the most meaningful things you'll ever do. It doesn't require a PhD. It doesn't require the perfect words. It requires showing up, staying present, and being willing to carry what they cannot carry alone.
That's what bearing one another's burdens means. That's what it means to be the church.
Who needs you to show up this week?