For April 25 2021 Prayer for Peace and Peace Moment with introduction Glenn
Introduction
Each week we will hear a Peace Moment in addition to the prayer for peace. Hopefully all will be blessed with these devotional thoughts. This week’s Peace Moment is by Glenn Johnson.
PEACE MOMENT
Today’s focus on the 23rd Psalm reminds us that even in the face of adversity and danger, we can find God’s peace. God is present everywhere. This is hard to realize when we are faced with something violent, dangerous, or disturbing. Yet the psalmist reminds us: “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me.”
As I write this, we are in the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus causes fear. It is a rational fear, to be sure. But rational fears can give way to irrational fears and overwhelming feelings if we are not careful. One way of coping with dread is to find the peace of God present everywhere, in the face of everyone we meet and with whom we interact.
I remember when I served as pastor at Welcome Home in California being confronted in the pastor’s study by an angry man who was in a dispute with one of our members. He claimed he had connections to the “Mexican mafia” and that he could have one of our elders killed. I am generally a very calm person, but I felt my heart racing as I tried to bring the words of peace that would calm the storm of anger raging inside this man. Slowly and with patience, he stepped down from the emotional brink and there was no violence.
What does it mean, in the face of this virus, to see God everywhere? For me, it means remembering this man’s face, his menace and anger, and finding a way to realize that God was present with me as the voice of peace in that very tense moment. As we pray for peace today, let us remember that even when we walk through the valley of death, the God of peace comforts us.
Please join me in our prayer for peace.
O Great God, Our Friend, Our Protector,
We come before you today, joined as a community to hold up our world as we pray for its peace. We offer our love in solidarity and support for our brothers and sisters and the struggles in which they are engaged. The world that we inhabit has suffered from illness, war, famine, and unnecessary death. We pray, God, that you will look upon us and see our weakness and lift up each of us.
We ask that you guide our meditations so that we may uplift those without a faith community. Help us, O God, to be your arms and legs. Let us move the way you would have us move that we can offer hope to those without it. Bring us together in community. Bring us together as family. Hold us in your heavenly arms that we may feel the love. Thank you for giving us this opportunity to share our spirits. Thank you for letting us share our strength. We pray in Jesus’ holy name.
Amen.
Alternative prayers for peace are available www.CofChrist.org/daily-prayer-for-peace.