A Prayer for the Victims of Nice, France
Dear Father,
I ask tonight for Your grace and compassion on the victims and loved ones of the terrorism in Nice, France. There are no doubt people suffering in great physical pain this evening. There are no doubt people suffering with great emotional trauma. There are people whose lives have been transformed. I pray that You will comfort all of these hurting people. I pray for relief from intense pain and heartache. I pray for rest. I pray for recovery and healing, physically and emotionally. I pray that You will move those who love You to embrace all of those who hurt as a result of this evil.
Father, what happened today was evil. It was also a choice…a choice made by people who choose to live in rebellion to You. I am confident that the sum total of Your commandments are to love You with all of our hearts and minds and to love our neighbors because You love them! It is in disobedience to the commandment to love You that we, as a human race, step forward into violence and bloodshed. Forgive us. I have confidence that the individual who committed this act of evil today has already faced You and justice has already been served.
Father, we as a human race want free choice. And yet, when the driver of a truck that crashes into people makes his own choice to kill and mame, we wonder why You didn’t interfere. Why didn’t You stop him? Because, each one of us wants free choice, to choose for ourselves what is right and what is wrong. He made his choice and his choice was to terrorize the world. If You were to prevent him from doing what he did, why shouldn’t you stop each and everyone of us when we want to do things our own way?
The answer, Father, is that we need to obey Your commands and to do things Your way – to love those whom You love – our fellow human beings.
Comfort the hurting tonight, Father! Create stories of healing, recovery, and hope.
In Jesus name,
Amen