In times of stress and distress we turn to prayer for comfort, hope and healing. Prayer is a way to identify with and participate in the life of God through the Spirit and to bring healing to the pathologies that are in and around us. The reality principle of prayer is the recognition that all of life is woven together in a web of mutuality. The totality of life is in God. Through prayer we have access to the resources we need to live as fully as possible.
The following prayer is posted on the World Faith News website and offered in the wake of the tragic events at the Boston Marathon. The prayer comes from the Office of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, USA.
Peace, David Hansen
Gracious Lord, you are our refuge and strength, our very present help in trouble. With sadness and questions in our hearts, your Spirit prompts us in this hour to pray for our sisters and brothers in the wake of the tragedy in Boston. Comfort with your generous grace in a way only you can, Lord, those who lost their loved ones in the bomb explosions today, those who are trying to connect with their loved ones, and those who are injured. Strengthen first responders, medical personnel, and other authorities as they work through the day and night to come to the aid of many. Pierce the heart and soul of the perpetrator(s) of this act of violence. Forgive these individual(s) for they know not what they do.
Incline your ear to us, loving Lord, for we seek you, we plead to you to come to our aid, to hear our pleas and petitions for peace, for we long and groan for the day when the wolf will lay down with the lamb, where there will be no more bombs, no more loss, no more blood. Unite us as a human community, where neighbor loves neighbor, where our relating to each other is not through fear or violence, but through our common life, for in you and from you we live, and move and have our being.
In your strong love, hold us close to your heart. Anchor us in your love and secure us in your peace which surpasses all our understanding but which gives us the very confidence that in a Good Friday world, we are an Easter people, living in and with the power, possibilities and promise of your risen son, Jesus Christ. In his Name and for his sake, we pray. Amen.