
Photo credit: wichurches.org
No doubt Astros and Ranger fans are extremely excited for their teams. For me, I can’t wait for today’s 6th game of the playoff series. Watching the honorary first pitch. Listening to the National Anthem. Possibly the Astros winning and going to the World Series.
I stopped watching the nonstop coverage of what’s going on in the Middle East. It was too painful. It evoked unsettling fear of World War III. The end of me and the human race and even those who are doing inhuman and inconceivable harm to others. What could you or I do about it anyway? Forces greater than us are in charge.
Maybe there is something our little weak selves can do. Being a man of faith, I wonder what might happen if today everyone in the world prayed for peace. Peace in our communities. Peace in our un-united States. Peace in dysfunctional government in Washington. Most importantly, today for peace in the Middle East and in Ukraine.
What difference can you and I as Americans really make in bringing about peace? Perhaps a great deal if you and I prayed with others for world peace today.
I often feel that prayer and God’s help are the only things that will put an end to such chaos and violence. Maybe what is going on now in the Middle East will continue for the next 5,000 years. Yet, with prayer and God’s heavenly hands, God’s peace might cover the Earth. Heal the brokenhearted. Reconcile the irreconcilable. Vanquish from hearts the hate that caused Hamas to kill more than1,500 innocent Jewish people.
Some people say that prayer falls on God’s deaf ears. I surely felt that way when God never cured my polio despite my countless prayers. Yet, what God helped me to accomplish in life and love after paralysis was and is nothing short of a miracle.
I am certain that if God’s peace which passeth understanding descends upon the Middle East (and in Ukraine) that will be the result of prayer. Not just the prayers of those currently held in captivity. Not just the prayers of families for the release of beloved hostages. Not just the residents of the Gaza Strip in need of hope, food, water, and healthcare. Not just those who pray in the darkness and despair in the tragic and senseless death of loved ones.
We need God’s inexplicable and perfect peace to descend on the Earth and not just the Middle East or Ukraine. May we all have faith that God hears every prayer.
As we pray for the Astros to win the race for the Pennant and another World Championship, let us remember that we are all part of the most important race. As children of God, we are on a race to attain eternal life and love with God. That is our Victory. The forever peace of God’s grace. Life after death. Love which always conquers hate.
Please join me in prayers for peace on Earth. Magnify your prayers by sharing this prayer with all you know. Seek out God’s love. God’s love is the most powerful force on Earth and in Heaven. With God and prayer, our small weak selves can win lasting peace on Earth for all.
God has spoken in Scripture on finding peace.
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.
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.
Let us pray together for world peace.
Dear God, I am helpless to bring about Your peace to the world, especially in the Middle East, Ukraine, and outside my community. Please help me to ask You in prayer for peace.
God, in prayer may my petitions for peace be magnified by You and in You.
God, as I pray for world peace, please give inner peace to the hearts and lives of others broken by violence among nations and their peoples. With Your Son, the Risen Lord, You reconciled the world with forgiveness and eternal life. One day soon may Your love, Your peace rule the hearts of all Your children on Earth. Amen