We Can Pray

The difficulty of coming up with a word or way to describe this “challenging” time in our country continues – the ongoing upheaval experienced these days from executive orders, deportations, tariffs, trade wars, economic uncertainty, court cases, arrests, people losing their jobs, non-profit organizations losing funding, . . . the list keeps growing. The concerns for the well-being and rights of our neighbors continue to grow, while the hope that anyone or anything can stop what is happening diminishes. Time and time again, we ask, “What can we do? As people of God, how do we stand up for our neighbor to promote care and mercy rather than division and harm to the most vulnerable?

We can pray. As followers of Jesus, we can pray. In times of great distress and upheaval, we can pray.

We can pray not to abdicate our responsibility to speak out, to work for change, or to put our heads in the sand and ignore what is happening.

We can pray to keep us grounded and centered always in the power of God.

We can pray, opening our hearts and minds to the Spirit who “renews the face of the earth.”  (Psalm 104:30)

I was reminded recently of what happened in East Germany in the 1980s when Christians gathered every Monday for prayer. Led by Lutheran pastor Christian Fuhrer, prayer meetings were held at St. Nicholas Church in Leipzig. Over time, the gathering grew, and the East German secret police took notice. On October 9, 1989, some 70,000 people gathered. They spilled into the streets, speaking their prayers and holding their candles. The secret police came; but the situation remained peaceful. As a high-level East German leader put it, “We had planned for everything . . . but not for candles and prayers.” One month later, the Berlin Wall came down.

May we in these days pray without ceasing and discover the power of prayer, the power of love, the power of hope, and the power of peace.

Gracious God, keep us working and praying for the day when your justice will roll down like waters, and your righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.  Replenish our strength and stir up our hope as we look for signs of your coming reign.  And fill us with the peace that passes understanding – the deep peace of Jesus Christ our Savior, in whose holy name we pray. 

Amen

(All Creation Sings, page 61)