Psalm 122: 6-9
…“May those who love You be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels. For the sake of my family and friends, I will say, ‘Peace be within you.’ For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your prosperity.”
Our Father in heaven, those words from the Psalms are appropriate prayers for Jerusalem today as well as for our communities, cities, towns, and neighborhoods. We have seen racial tension escalate into violence, looting, destruction and heartache in our cities, towns and neighborhoods, and so our prayer is that peace and security be restored so that healing can take place. We ask you, Lord, to help us rebuild, improve relations, and preserve our communities so that folks can work towards prosperity for their families and businesses. We ask that You make a way for us to find common ground so we can develop strong bonds that reach across generational, racial, economic, political and theological differences to create loving and compassionate communities and neighborhoods. We pray for grace to accept our diversity and celebrate our differences, setting a good example for young and old on what true “community” looks like.
Lord we pray for our schools, especially now with so many having to adapt to new teaching methods and distance learning. Please help our children and grandchildren adapt to these changes and continue to thrive as students. We pray most earnestly that our schools would be safe places of learning and that no one with evil intent would be able to enter in to cause physical or emotional harm to students. We ask that teachers and those in administrative roles would be diligent in their profession, offering the best possible education for the next generations.
We lift up to You all those in law enforcement who put their lives on the line every day to keep our communities safe, that You would protect each one and their families. We pray that they would be true to their calling and that the men and women who serve be above reproach, act responsibility, do justice, and protect the weak and vulnerable.
Lord, we are commanded to love You with all our hearts, souls, minds and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves. And so we ask for You to confirm in our hearts the need to pray for our neighbors—by name—that each one would place their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ personally. And by their faith, love, care, concern, and trust, they will flourish so abundantly that our neighborhoods will shine like beacons of Light and hope throughout our nation. We ask in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.
~ painting by Marie-Louis Batardy
