Set us Free Jesus
“The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord's throne is in heaven. His eyes behold, his gaze examines humankind. You, O Lord, will protect us; you will guard us from this generation forever.” Psalm 11:4; Psalm 12:7
Watching the news can leave us feeling like the world is falling apart at its seams. With all the violence, wars, and persecution of innocent people happening daily before our eyes, it is heart wrenching and discouraging. You want to shout—stop the killing. Just stop! Can't we just live peacefully with one another? What are we to do?
Even though we can't stop the violence physically we can do something spiritually for we know in our hearts that it is indeed a spiritual battle. We can pray against the violence and killing. We can go to our Lord in prayer and beg his mercy upon his people.
We can pray for protection for all the innocent—and we can proclaim: “You O Lord will protect us; you will guard us from this generation forever."
Our God does hear the cry of His people before His thrown in heaven. However, we pray and then we expect instant results. We are a generation of instant answers and instant solutions. We may never know this side of heaven how our persistent prayer has helped someone find hope in Jesus in the midst of this troubled world. We call upon all the angels and saints to intercede on behalf of those who are lost without hope. Let us call upon the name of Jesus to rain down the purifying living waters of His mercy and love.
Perhaps just for a few moments today, we can meditate on the words of Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta: “Let us not use bombs and guns to overcome the world. Let us use love and compassion. Peace begins with a smile. Smile five times a day at someone you don't really want to smile at; do it for peace. Let us radiate the peace of God and so light His light and extinguish in the world and in the hearts of all men all hatred and love for power. Today, if we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other-that man, that woman, that child is my brother or my sister. If everyone could see the image of God in his neighbor, do you think we would still need tanks and generals?”
Let Us Pray: Come Lord Jesus come with the consuming fire of Your love to bring peace to our troubled hearts and world. Amen.