Praying Peace

In the midst of incredible things that have been happening recently in the United Kingdom,  we grieve with the City and people of Manchester today.

If there ever was a time we as a Generation needed to rise up in prayer, it is now.

Our world is shifting gears and we need to respond to the voices of hatred and intimidation with the words of God and the cry of the Spirit.

My heart is challenged to be softened to the hurt and pain around us, and sensitive to the voice of my Father in how to love them, share truth with them and comfort them in seasons of sorrow.

In moments of atrocity as we have recently seen in our lands, what will bring the greatest change is not politics, it is not social justice, but the hand of God.

Our human actions may not always physically prevent these horrors from happening, but our humanity crying out to a Sovereign God will have an unprecedented effect.

The Word of God tells us to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem,” and in my finite understanding, although we most certainly need to pray for Jerusalem, it was also their HOME.

And we need to pray for our homes.

We need to pray for a secure dwelling for future generations. That is again, both spiritual and physical places of dwelling.

God help us if we enjoy the blessings and peace of the House of God but leave it in Spiritual disrepair. God help us if we grow so lax and self-centred that we do not look out for the safety of the little people who are following in our footsteps of life. God help us if we neglect our connection to the vine and everything about Him that makes us fruitful.

God help us if everything that has been invested in us through the generations and through great toil, sacrifice and tears should fail to be passed on to the next generation.

We should be polishing our spiritual armour, we desperately need to rebuild our spiritual walls, we should be cultivating an atmosphere where the supernatural can occur at any moment when the compassion of Christ sees the need. We should be praying beyond borders, and barriers, and limitations to pass down a legacy of faith that will be greater than anything we can imagine.

We would thing it madness if we did not physically do everything we can do to ensure the physical safety of the young and vulnerable, but so many times as believers it is so easy to say, “They’ll be fine,” “It’ll be ok,” “They’ll get over it,” instead of praying against the dark forces that seek to devour the most exposed.

I feel to challenge you to pray the prayer of Faith over your family, over your local assembly, over your nation. Pray peace into communities rocked by tragedy and eaten up by apathy.

It will not do for us to play the blame game, they could have done this, we could have done that, but as one of my mentors, Bro Mark Gadd, reminded us today, “tragedy and loss of life urge us that we give of our best to the work of God.”
We may not all have hours to weep before the altar, but we do have an opportunity to open our lips to the King of Heavens and pray peace.

Let’s do it.

And watch what happens.