On Wednesday, those in the quilting group meeting in our church were talking about the pain of what is happening in our country, and particularly regarding what has and is happening in Minneapolis. I was asked to pray with them. The following is a prayer I wrote and prayed with them. I offer this prayer as, perhaps, a way in which you also may be able to express your feelings to God.
Hear, O Lord, and answer us for we are poor and needy. Guard our lives for we are devoted to you. You are our God … and we trust in you. Have mercy on us, O Lord, for we call on you all day long. Hear our prayer, O Lord. Listen to our cry for mercy. In the day of trouble we call on you for you will answer. You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God. Turn to us and have mercy on us.
Verses from David’s prayer in Psalm 89:
Lord, along with so many others in our country, we come with heavy hearts crying out to you for mercy. As individuals, communities, and a nation, we are anguishing in deep pain because of the senseless brutality and killing inflicted upon immigrants and citizens of our land. Our hearts are filled with lament, with weeping, anxiety, and even with anger. We know we can bring this to you as you, our God, know our inner pain. With what is in our hearts we ask you to hear our prayer for the protection of immigrants who are unjustly targeted. We pray for those who are separated from children and family and ask for them to experience your compassion and grace.
We pray for those who mourn the death of Renee Good and Alex Pretti and ask for your compassion and presence to comfort family and friends, and we pray for justice on their behalf. We pray for safety in communities across the country where fear is a constant companion as protests are registered against policies that devalue human dignity and life. God of hope remind us that our hope is in you, that you see what is happening and are giving courage to those who are speaking out in the streets, the courts, and seats of government. Lord, we pray for ourselves that in these days of immense uncertainly and chaos we would not give into despair but trust, as David prayed, that you will answer our prayer. Lord, we even pray for ICE agents, that their hearts would turn from harshness to honoring life and the rights of all individuals. Lord, we pray all of this because we know that you have helped in the past when we have lived in days of trouble and that you are not powerless to answer our prayer for that which we now plead in the name of Jesus who himself knew the agony of heartfelt pain. Amen.
