A Prayer for Peace

Dear friends of faith in Christ Jesus our Lord…

In the wake of the Sydney shooting massacre, let us pray:

Heavenly Father, yesterday, the third Sunday of Advent, should have been a day of joy, wrapped in the arms of hope, peace, and steadfast love - in your promise that Jesus is coming again.  Yet we tarry here in an existence that exposes the wretchedness humanity faces with its own human condition.  Sunday the fourteenth of December now stands as a day of great turmoil, terror, and tragedy, in the minds and hearts of Australians in the wake of the Sydney Bondi shooting.

Lord in your mercy… hear our prayer.

Flood hearts and minds with soothing that only the Holy Spirit can bring at a time like this.  Be with those who grieve the death of loved ones.  Help them to grieve with a Godly grief and keep them free from vengeful sin.  Where hearts are angry replace this with the compassion of your Son, Jesus Christ, who as the Son of Man, became a servant of salvation to us all.

Lord in your mercy… hear our prayer.

Be with those confused and traumatised by the chaos of the shooting.  Rally medical and mental supports around them so ripples of resentment do not radiate through them.  Empower our Australian community with the forgiveness of our Lord Jesus Christ who forgave us all from the cross and calls us to carry this cross of compassion and sacrifice in our lives.

Lord in your mercy… hear our prayer.

Heavenly Father, the Jewish community are your chosen people, be with this community in Australia, and in Sydney.  Console hurting hearts!  Comfort them in their grief and confusion.  Give to them hearts to receive their Messiah, Jesus Christ who also died for them.

Lord in your mercy… hear our prayer.

Renew your call to the Jewish community in Israel and throughout the world.  Help them to beat their swords into ploughshares, to lay down their weapons of war, and walk the way of peace.  Help them to see the way of Jesus Christ in his cross of salvation.

Lord in your mercy… hear our prayer.

Be with the Gentile communities, especially here in Australia, but also in the Middle East, and across the world.  Give them avenues to express their hurt and anger that does not replicate the hostilities that have occurred.  Fill their hearts with compassion and forgiveness that can only come through your Holy Spirit.

Lord in your mercy… hear our prayer.

Encourage your Holy Church, the body of Christ, with boldness to “come out” as Christians.  Help all Christians to join in with the works of Jesus, our great High Priest at your right hand, in his holy petitions of prayer.  Help all Christians to recognise that our prayers are powerful in Jesus’ name.  When we are so stunned and dumbstruck by what has happened,  help us to trust in the petitions of Lord’s Pray (Matthew 6:9-13, Luke 11:2-4) and the Psalms, knowing that the Word of God is a double edged sword given to us by the Word made Flesh, your Son, Jesus Christ.  That it’s a sword dissecting sin from the hearts of those who pray and from the hearts of those for whom we pray!

Lord in your mercy… hear our prayer.

Overcome the temptation in us to join the shooters in their sin.  Help us to place our self-righteousness, self-justification, and our natural tendency for revenge,  on the cross.  Show us by the power of the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ word that hatred is akin to murder in God’s eyes (Matthew 5:21-22).  Where we struggle with resentment and feelings of revenge help us take up the call to repentance and replace it with peace in your holy presence.

Lord in your mercy… hear our prayer.

As we stand before you in this season of Advent, help us all to consider our part in why you sent your Son to die on the cross.  Fill us with doubtless hope in the resurrection of the dead, in your peace that surpasses all human understanding, joy in the good news that you are coming again to put all things right, and love for each other as Christ loves us.

Lord in your mercy… hear our prayer.

Come Lord Jesus come…      Amen.