06/01/2020
Lord, may the church be faithful to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. May these looters, vandals, and police officers — indeed, all who are guilty before God and in their sins, for there is none righteous — turn from their sin to trust in Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. He is the only Savior. He is the only Mediator between God and man. Salvation is only attained through faith in him. And may all of these, having turned from their sin and to Christ, be joined to Christ’s church so that these things might be taught to them:
“Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:17–32, ESV)
In the meantime, may the civil authorities be faithful to do their work — to uphold justice and to promote peace in accordance with the moral law that God has revealed. These authorities have “been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval” (Romans 13:1–3, ESV). Lord, have mercy upon our land. Bless us with police officers, judges, law-makers and politicians who are upright and just, so that we might live at peace. Where there is injustice, may it be identified and set straight.
