Eternal Father, strong to save, we come into Your presence this day asking that You would allow the Prince of Peace to rule over our lives, our nation. and our world. We need Him more than ever to quiet our souls and restore peace to this fallen and broken world.
You have told us that “blessed are the peacemakers”, and we confess to You that we have failed in this area and have thus forfeited this blessing. Our hearts rage within us as we lash out against our circumstances, our families, and our neighbors. We have not learned to forgive as You have commanded us, and have forfeited the right to be forgiven ourselves. We are so very far from the One who called out from the cross “Father, forgive them.”
We have not loved our enemies. We have not loved our neighbors. We have even failed to love our families. We need to experience Your love and be changed by it in order to love others as we ought. We cannot say that we love You if we do not love our brother.
We are not at peace within ourselves. In our pride and arrogance we insist that we are owed better than You have granted us. We think more highly of ourselves than we ought. We have not humbled ourselves under Your mighty hand. And as result, we are lacking peace.
Father, we pray that You would forgive these sins, and that You would change us and mold us into the image of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Replace our rage with Your peace, and make us the peacemakers that this world so sorely needs.
We pray that You would bring peace to warring nations, to warring tribes, to warring political factions, and to warring families. We pray that You would not allow us to engage in rhetoric that inflames existing animosities, but that we would always speak the truth in love.
We thank You that when we were Your enemies You disarmed us by the power of Your love. You sent Your Son to be our Savior, sending Him to experience the hatred of men resulting in His death on a cruel Roman cross.
We give You praise that He conquered the enemy known as death, and that He has given us peace with You, bearing the wrath that our sin deserved.
In recent days we have seen the terrible toll that a lack of peace has had on our nation and on our relationships. The evil forces of division rage strong in our land. Bring us back into a right relationship with You and with others. Give us forgiving hearts, and also give us the humility and courage to admit when we have been wrong and need the forgiveness of others.
We know that true and enduring peace will not arrive until the coming of Jesus Christ to rule and reign as Supreme over His restored creation. Until that time, convict us of the need to be at peace with all men, so far as it is dependent upon us. Come quickly Lord Jesus. Usher in Your peace. We pray this in Your name. Amen