Lament and confession over gun violence
Oh. Lord,
There’s been another mass shooting.
I can’t imagine how your heart hurts to see your creation turn on itself.
End the violence in our country.
I intercede, Lord, for the victims and the victimizers that live in this country
and call themselves Americans.
I am sick of the violence,
shamed by it,
grieved by it,
astonished by the normalization of mass shootings.
We have blood on our hands.
We may not have personally committed these atrocities,
but many times we have shaken our heads,
cast judgment,
and gone about our day anyway.
Lord, show each of us how we can help change this problem.
Massage our hearts toward compassion, justice, and care.
Give us discernment about the gun-violence problem,
the sin-problem,
and the mental-health problem
that must be addressed and corrected.
We are a country–and a world–filled with desperate people
who cannot find a way to solve their own heart and mind issues
except to lash out against one another.
We gossip,
we malign,
we injure,
we marginalize,
we kill.
Lord, forgive us for our selfishness
and disregard for human life.
I pray for us–your children–to rise up and address the issues in love,
to model compassion and justice,
to provide comfort and understanding,
and to bring healing in the name of Jesus.
Let us not leave it to the lawmakers alone.
Let the church stand in the gap.
I pray this in Jesus’ powerful name,
Amen.
Other prayers about violence:
Prayer over the synagogue shooting
Confession of racism in the U.S. and a prayer for Arbery’s justice
Lament for a homicide: when a child kills a child
An American prayer: lament and confession
Forgive us, for we have sinned: a unilateral confession of racism
How to pray for revenge (I mean vengeance and justice)
Fall on my city to bring peace and justice
A prayer for justice and vengeance
Bring to an end the violence of the wicked and make the righteous secure— you, the righteous God who probes minds and hearts. (Psalm 7:9)
