Gun Violence Prayers 2
Merciful Lord,
we come to you heavy hearted,
for we have heard the cries of
the slain calling to us from the ground.
We come remembering
all the lives lost to the weapons of war
that have flooded our communities.
We come reminded
of the many bodies locked in jails and
prisons all across this country.
And we ask for your mercy.
Although we find ourselves
in a broken world –a world in which
hurting people hurt other people,
it is no mystery that
you are a God capable
of healing our world
through justice and fairness.
Your own revelation has shown us that
you stand firmly with those people
whose backs are against the wall.
Your own life demonstrates
how you came from heaven to earth
to redeem creation,
our communities and our own lives.
So we ask for this same redemptive power
to be unleashed among us as it was
on the day of Pentecost.
May we be empowered by your Spirit
to reverse the conditions that
produce young men and women
who are driven to resort to violence
and destructive behavior in their fight
to stay alive and struggle to remain free.
We know that
you have no pleasure
in the death of anyone,
so we boldly come
to the throne of grace
today dear Lord,
seeking your wisdom
as we create strategies that provide
pathways and lifelines to hope and healing.
Help us to remember
we are all your children,
created in your image,
and we are connected by a single garment
of mutuality and destiny.
Cause us to never forget how our needs are
the same and our calling to address
these needs are the same.
Reveal to us Lord,
that the pain felt in Newtown is
the same pain felt in Chicago.
The tears shed in Oak Creek are
the same tears shed in Oakland.
The lives lost in Tucson are
the same lives lost in Camden.
The children being buried in Aurora are
the same children being buried in Detroit.
We cry out to you,
heal our souls from
this scourge of violence.
Endow us
with the courage
to step down from the pulpits
and out from behind our desks
to seek the peace of the city.
In the coming days and weeks
as our leaders debate solutions,
Lord we ask that
you grant us the voice
to speak truth power
and demonstrate
sacrificial compassion to
the hurting.
Teach us your ways, O God.
Bless us with the wisdom
and strength to put down
our swords and be peacemakers.
Use us,
work through us
and,
if necessary,
work in spite of us to mend
our nation’s brokenness.
We thank you for
your protecting embrace
and unfailing love.
All of these requests we bring to you,
in the name of Jesus the Christ we pray.
Amen.
-People Improving Communities through Organizing (PICO)-
Thanks for The Prayer
in the Face of Gun Violence
http://www.loaloachristiannetwork.com/
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