“Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience…”

Colossians 3:12

Father, You have chosen me, made me holy, and loved me, and I’m forever grateful. I pray for myself now, as well as for all of Your children, and I ask that You would teach us to put on compassion. I pray that we would turn from our outrage, from our suspicions, and from our side-taking ways, and begin to let compassion flow from us. Compassion for victims and families and all who are touched by the violence that is raging right now. When we could choose blame, let us choose compassion. Rather than assumptions, may we give compassion. Lord, make us the voice of compassion in the crowds of hate filled rhetoric, blame, and accusation.

As easy as it is to join the fray and raise our fists and exercise our outrage, I pray we will choose instead to look for Your footprints. I pray we will do the harder task of dying to our own opinions and choose to be like You, to have Your mind and Your heart.

Bring me, bring us, to a place repentance, so that we can rise up to kindness and humility. Gentle us Lord, gentle our attitudes and our voices. And may we wait, with patience, for You to cause everything to conform to Your purposes. I pray we will speak to injustice and give the voiceless a voice, but with compassion, with kindness, and with our ear leaned toward You, listening for Your heart, not to the many voices calling for our agreement down here.

Father, the worst of our culture has brought out the worst in us, and I pray it will stop. I pray that we will come to our senses as the people of God, and begin to walk in Your Spirit, against our own flesh. I pray for a holy restraint to come upon the Church – not a restraint of truth, but a restraint of our harsh words, our opinions stated as facts, and a restraint of our unkindness toward one another.

Jesus, call us again to ‘come, follow’ You, as You act with compassion for the world You died to save.

In Your name I pray. Amen.