7 Prayers That Work

Oh. Lord, There's been another mass shooting. I can't imagine how your heart hurts to see your creation turn on itself. End the violence in our country. I intercede, Lord, for the victims and the victimizers that live in this country and call themselves Americans. I am sick of the violence, shamed by it, grieved by it, astonished by the normalization of mass shootings. We have blood on our hands. We may not have personally committed these atrocities, but many times we have shaken our heads, cast judgment, and gone about our day anyway. Lord, show each of us how we can help change this problem. Massage our hearts toward compassion, justice, and care. Give us discernment about the gun-violence problem, the sin-problem, and the mental-health problem that must be addressed and corrected. We are a country--and a world--filled with desperate people  who cannot find a way to solve their own heart and mind issues except to lash out against one another. We gossip, we malign, we injure, ...

Dear God, You understand heartbreak.  You know what it is to lose a child to senseless violence . Lord, fall on us and blanket our misery! Bring vengeance on the perpetrators of injustice. This latest act of violence against a child sickens and saddens me. No parent should lose a child because someone else's child is angry, confused, or traumatized. Or just a sinner, committing a sin. And now another child has died. Sometimes the killed child is an unborn baby. Sometimes it's a neglected child. Sometimes it's a teenager, caught up in drugs or theft  or just being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Sometimes a child's death is caused by someone's trauma , someone's desperation, someone's mental illness someone's cruelty. It's shocking what we humans are capable of doing. It's all so horrible, and I know it grieves you. You desire hope, healing, peace, love, forgiveness, restitution, belonging. May my heart always break when your heart break...

Oh Lord, the God of all peoples- You tell us to confess our sins, the sins of our country, to one another and for one another. If we are truly righteous, we will take ownership of the sins of our land. We have sinned for generations. We have been arrogant, violent, heartless, and ignorant--for generations upon generations. And now, our hatred and violence surprises us and devastates us. Let our confession prompt your forgiveness. Let forgiveness motivate us to make restitution to those we've sinned against. "Therefore  confess  your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." ( James 5:17 ) We have worshipped our own success, our own privilege, our own destiny, for generations, to the peril of others. We are reaping the legacy of that self-absorption and ignorance, let alone the hatred and violence that preceded it. "I, the  Lord  your God, am a jealous ...

Below is a blogpost on Guideposts, by my friend Bob Hostetler. He writes extensively about prayer, and uses laments on his prayer blog to show his readership how to call out to God when times are terrible. Last week proved yet another example of when and how to lament. I've copied his blog below, as well as the source material. AFTER OREGON'S TRAGEDY, PRAY THE PRAYER OF TEARS by Bob Hostetler Another shooting happened last week at a community college in Oregon. Nine innocent people died, adding to our collective sense of grief and frustration. Since then, of course, airwaves and the internet have been filled with anger and argument, outcries and opinions of all kinds. Such things are understandable. They can even be healthy. Though few people—if any—would suggest that prayers alone are sufficient at such a time, prayer is critical. And particularly the prayer of tears. The psalmist David cried out: Hear my prayer, LORD, listen to my cry for help; do not be deaf to m...