A Prayer for Troubled Times:
DEAR LORD,
We’re still hoping we’ll wake up. We’re still hoping we’ll
open a sleepy eye and think, What a horrible dream. How could this have happened?
We are sad, Father.
And so we come to you. We don’t ask you for help; we beg you for it.
We don’t request; we implore. We know what you can do. We’ve read the accounts. We’ve pondered the
stories, and now we plead, “Do it again, Lord. Do it again.”
Remember Joseph? You rescued him from the pit. You can do the same for us.
Do it again, Lord.
Remember the Hebrews in Egypt? You protected their children from the angel of death. We
have children too, Lord. Do it again.
And Sarah? Remember her prayer? You heard them. Joshua? Remember his fears? You inspired
him. The women at the tomb? You resurrected their hope. The doubts of Thomas? You took them away. Do it again, Lord.
Do it again.
You changed Daniel from a captive into a king’s counselor. You took Peter the fisherman
and made him Peter the apostle. Because of you, David went from leading sheep to leading armies. Do it again,
Lord, for we need counselors today. We need apostles. We need leaders. Do it again, dear Lord.
Most of all do again what you did at Calvary. What we saw in this tragedy, you saw
there on that Friday. Innocence ended. Goodness suffering. Mothers weeping. Evil dancing. Just as the Shadows fell on our
children, the darkness fell on your Son. Just as our world has been shattered, the very child of Eternity was pierced.
And by dusk, heaven’s sweetest song was silent, buried behind a rock.
But you did not waver, O Lord. You did not waver. After your Son lay three days in
a dark hole, you rolled the rock and rumbled the earth and turned the darkest Friday into the brightest Sunday. Do It
again, Lord. Turn this Calvary into an Easter.
Thank you for these hours of prayer.
Let your mercy be upon all who suffer. Grant to those who lead us wisdom beyond their years
and experience. Have mercy upon the souls who have departed and the wounded who remain. Give us grace that we might
forgive and faith that we might believe.
And look kindly upon your church. For two thousand years you’ve used her to heal
a hurting world.
Do it again, Lord, Do it again.
Through Christ, amen.1
1. Adapted from a prayer written
for America Prays, a national prayer vigil on September 15, 2001.“Reprinted by permission. (For the Tough
Times), Max Lucado, 2006, Thomas Nelson Inc. Nashville, Tennesee. All rights reserved.”
