Friends, Bishop Trimble has asked us to pray ardently for an end to the gun violence that pervades our nation. He has prompted us to pray for the courage to act and the wisdom to know how to act. Will you join us in this endeavor?
Our Father God, who dwells among us, how you must mourn when we die by one another’s hands. You abhor violence. You must have hoped we would be different.
Somehow carrying guns has become a “right,” but as we claim that right for ourselves, we also claim it for all who will misuse it. For those who will kill teachers and children in their classrooms. For those who will kill shoppers in a Walmart. For those who will target minorities and kill mothers, grandmothers, and even children just to say they have killed one of “them.” For those who will enter a church, synagogue, or mosque during services to kill without fear of resistance. This is a great evil.
Father, we fall before you to plead: please take away this blight upon our nation and upon the world. Give us the moral courage to resist those who protect this “right” even when they see how it is abused. Give us the strength to say “no more.”
Dwell with us still, and give us the common sense we need to be at peace with one another. Calm the fears that cause us to think we need such weapons. Open our eyes to the harm they cause. They do harm; they do little good; and they are seldom, if ever, used to show our love for you. Father, please, please hear us. This has to stop. Only your leadership and strength can prevail. Show us the way.
In all things, let us follow Jesus’ example, remembering that violence does not beget peace and safety, but only more violence. Let us love as Jesus loved, without discrimination, and let us learn to reason together. We pray
these things in God’s beloved and powerful name. Amen.
Your Prayer Coordinator,
Rev. Ann Thomas