Day 7
Nelson Starr

Father in Heaven:

We humbly approach You in thankfulness for the many blessings You have bestowed upon our nation and upon us as a congregation at the Garden Ridge Church. We thank You and ask for Your continued blessing and to enable us to channel this blessing in our missional efforts to spread Your Good News, Your love, and the hope of Your salvation. We recognize that we here and now are but a part of Your Kingdom throughout time and across the world. We long to join with our sisters and brothers throughout the Kingdom in the embrace of Your peace, passing all of our understanding.

In particular, Father, we come before You now to ask for Your loving intervention in the conflict in Ukraine and in Eastern Europe. We ask You to help us unite with our brothers and sisters on all sides of the ongoing conflict in Russia and Ukraine in bringing about a cessation of hostilities.

We understand wars are most often the result of selfish human desires to exercise control and dominion over others. We understand the compassionate desire of Christians in Russia for peace, as well as those in Ukraine and elsewhere. We humbly petition You for guidance and for Your influence in reaching the hearts of those who are driving the conflict. We do not believe the hostilities there reflect Your will for humanity as the God of Peace and Reconciliation. We acknowledge the reality of deeply felt disagreements between people, but we hold that such disagreements should not result in attempts to subjugate others. Rather, we conceive that we should subject ourselves to Your mandate for love and understanding.

We ask for Your forgiveness for our own sins when we seek to simply silence others who may disagree with us. We beseech You to soften all of our hearts towards one another as You have demonstrated your power in this regard throughout history. Father, we ask for understanding in guiding all of us to a peaceful resolution in this tragic situation. Please touch the hearts of all of us, especially those whose actions contribute to conflict. We cannot see into all hearts and minds as only You can, but we can ask You to guide our own hearts and minds to play a role in helping to bring about Your peace.

Please help us be promoters of peace and understanding of one another here among our sisters and brothers at Garden Ridge. Use us in whatever way You will in guiding us at Garden Ridge to share this peace and to promote understanding in the wider world. We are powerless in ourselves, but You are all powerful and can use the efforts, talents, and resources with which you have blessed us to accomplish Your will. 

Father, please hear this our prayer for peace and reconciliation here at Garden Ridge and throughout Your creation.

Thank You most of all for Your Son, Jesus, and it is in His Name that we pray, Amen.