A Prayer for Buffalo. Laguna Woods. Uvalde.

Lord, hear our prayer.
Ten days, Lord. Buffalo, Laguna Woods, Uvalde. Have mercy.
Adapted from Psalm 86
Hear us, Lord, and answer.
We are poor and in need of Your justice and mercy.
You are God. Compassionate, abounding in love. We call to You.
You teach us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made; help us see that in the faces of our neighbors. 
Listen to our cries of distress. Help us rely on Your faithfulness.
Show us Your strength, and help us see signs of Your goodness because we often see none.
Teach us Your ways, God, and lead us to act where we are. We sometimes feel helpless and as if we can do nothing. 
But You have given us a mission as Your Church — a mission beyond all others.

Your gospel that changes hearts. 

Love that lets our neighbors know we are like Christ. 

Teaching and truth that guide us into peace. 

Community that heals us and changes us. 

Now, let the darkness give us urgency to be light instead of to give in to despair. Give us passion instead of defeat. Give us a desperation to reach the desperate. Make us different so that our neighborhoods and cities and nation and world will be changed. 
Help us be the people we are becoming before it is too late. 

For the families of the victims: We pray, God, for Your impossible-to-understand peace to be upon them. To be killed either as a helpless child or because of your skin color are both unspeakable evils that add a dark shadow to the way forward for these families. Bring Your Church and Your grace around them.

For students: We pray for our children, and for their parents, as they hold each other tighter and try to find words to explain evil and walk forward in good.

For teachers: We pray for our teachers, who signed up to serve our students and now fear they might have to shield them.

For our leaders: We pray they will seek Your wisdom in a world that’s consumed only with winning. 

For our country: We pray for unity. Our culture has driven us into corners. Let Your Church be a bridge to Your grace.