A Prayer for Healing

Dear Lord,

With each new senseless killing we are hoping we will wake up and find that this is a terrible dream. But it’s not a dream, is it Father?

An old priest was beheaded at his altar as he invited his congregation to “lift up your hearts,” and innocent people were slaughtered at malls, night clubs, and airports. It seems like everyday there is new carnage in the name of a god that is not ours. Included is a nurse who will no longer heal; a twenty-year-old Russian student who will never teach; a father and son from Texas, visiting France as a graduation present, who leave behind a distraught wife and family to pick up the pieces; and, Yannis, a beautiful four-year-old Tunisian boy who will never dance with a girlfriend, or graduate from college, or experience the joy of having grandchildren of his own. And, lest we forget, school girls kidnapped over two years ago are still being kept as sex slaves in some Nigerian forest.

We’ve lost our innocence, Lord, and we feel the weight of the enemy we fight – those who do not know you, and, because they don’t know you, they do not respect God-given life and human dignity. So we come to you for help.

Show us the strong arm of your mercy, gracious God, as the Bible tells us that you did this over and over again. Show us your Kingly rule. Show us your glory! You are our hope and the anchor of our souls. Fear grips the world but it has no control over us as long as you hold us close, so please hold us close. As a pall of darkness and death falls around us, burn in us brightly the hope of Resurrection.

Gracious God, if you will speak the Word and pour your Spirit upon the world that you created and love, these tragedies will still be incomparable grief and horror, but they can also guide many to your incomparable greatness. You who brought forth from the horrific killing of your own Son the gift of eternal life, somehow and in some way please redeem our present situation for your purposes. May our response to horror be your response, and measured by our trust in your fatherly care of us and of all whom you have made.

Look kindly upon your church, dear Lord. For two thousand years you have used her to heal the hurting, shelter and care for refugees and the poor, and uphold those who feel helpless. We offer ourselves again to your service.

We ask this all in the Name of the one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Amen