O, dear Lord Jesus Christ,
you told your disciples,
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give to you.
Let not your hearts be troubled,
neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27).
When we see violence instead of peace,
it is so tempting to let our hearts be troubled and afraid.
That Thursday night in that upper room
the peace you spoke of was the peace of forgiveness,
the peace of being connected to you,
the peace of being children of God in faith.
Turn our eyes to your cross
to remember how from the violence of your cross
you brought forth peace and reconciliation for the world.
Renew in our hearts the peace you promised,
and make us your people who share that peace.
Guide us so that when we feel frustrated and angry,
we still seek to glorify you
and love and serve our neighbors.
From your holy Gospel,
bring your peace and reconciliation
to individual hearts,
and so dispel trouble and calm fear;
in your most holy name we ask it.
Amen.
Source: © 2016 Paul C. Stratman
Prayer Reflecting on Violence in Milwaukee, August 13-14, 2016 by Paul C. Stratman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Please contact for any commercial usage.
A Collection of Prayers 