PRAYERS FOR PEACE

At eleven minutes past eleven o’clock in the morning on the eleventh day of the eleventh month across the Western Front in Europe the guns did not all fall silent. There continued to be some sporadic fighting in some areas, some commanders risking lives to gain a few yards of soil. But it was the beginning of the ending of the Great War, as it was called.

Since the ending of the “war to end all wars” more than 123 million died in the wars of the twentieth century, and millions have died in this century. There continue to be armed conflicts in Afghanistan, the Congo, Iraq, South Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, just to name a few places where people of power are trying to gain even more power at the expense of the helpless.

We pray for peace, but we need to understand that prayer is a tool to give us the strength and courage to challenge those in power who would destroy lives. Let us resolve to work for peace between warring factions both here in America as well as the rest of the world.

–Pastor Joyce