Almighty God, merciful Lord, Savior, and holy Judge of all creation:
We desire, as your people, to pray for the Church and for the World.
First, we give thanks to you for your grace, your Word in creation, Christ, and Scripture, and for your provision which is always far beyond what we deserve.
We are deeply grieved at the violence, slaughter, and wars that afflict our world. The places are numerous—Gaza, Iran, Israel, Congo, Ukraine—and the devastation and suffering frightens us.
Closer to home, we mourn the disunity and hate that divides us as a nation. We lament the suffering of the most vulnerable among us, the migrants, refugees, and the poor. We desire your will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
May your people demonstrate discernment in finding the truth and demonstrating its significance and power. May we also show love of neighbor in listening to and befriending those with whom we disagree or believe the conspiracy theories and lies. May we serve them patiently, even at cost. We pray fervently for our nation instead of merely complaining and criticizing.
We pray that the anger, name-calling, division, and violence between neighbors be met by a spirit of unity, led by a ministry of reconciliation by your people.
May those who delight in lies, misinformation, conspiracy theories, cruelty to the defenseless, and calling evil good, be stopped. If possible, bring them to repentance; if not, meet their wickedness with your righteous and holy judgement.
Bless the American press, showing them how to give us the news as clearly and honestly as is humanly possible. Encourage them not to assume perfect objectivity without prejudice, but to open-heartedly seek the truth while admitting their bias and presuppositions.
Bless every branch of government—executive, legislative, judicial—on all levels—national, state, local—with wisdom and a deep determination not to follow ideology but to follow the laws and promote peace, justice, virtue, and the common good.
Even now, we do not lose hope. The tomb remains empty, and your promises are certain.
Almighty Father, we pray all this in the Name of Jesus, who with you and the Holy Spirit reign in majestic glory, one God, now and forever, world without end. Amen.
Photo credit: Photo by Ümit Bulut on Unsplash
