Prayer: the axe is at the root

To be honest, it's hard to know where to start praying for our world. We are burning the precious remaining time to tackle the climate crisis while dictators wage wars to feed their egos, seemingly immune to the chaos they are imposing on others. We pray for the ordinary people of Gaza, living in desolate ruins and still under attack, the people of Sudan still experiencing cynical sexual violence as a weapon of war, the people of Ukraine still losing their friends, their children, their parents. We pray for the fragile ceasefire in Iran. We ask for an end to war and oppression. For peace, for security, for respect between all of us.

As we see the needless suffering of so many people, hurting thanks to the narcissistic stupidity and barefaced corruption of so many powerful leaders, we pray for change, and for new hope. We take courage from the words of John the Baptist:

"The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."

May this be true for us: Lord, cut down the corrupt and heartless and replace them with people whose character reflects your own.

After the local elections this week, we pray for our country and our local area, with the new West Surrey unitary authority. Please give the newly-elected councillors energy, wisdom and compassion. We pray against a growing spirit of fear, looking to lay the blame for our problems on the people in our communities with the least power. We turn to you and acknowledge that we are not on this earth just to look after ourselves, but to serve each other. When ideas that are in direct opposition to Jesus' message of compassion and love are dominating our discourse we take hope from more of John's words:

"His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

Lord, thresh our national conversation and burn up fear-mongering, hatred and ignorance. Give us courage to speak the truth that every adult, every child is a precious creation. Whether we're standing alone, or marching in overwhelming numbers, give us courage to resist evil, wherever you are calling us to do it.

We thank you for the inspiring work of East to West in our local area, offering friendship and support to young people when they need it. We pray for East to West's new CEO, Clare - please give her vision and wisdom. We pray for the Overwhelm event here this Friday: make it a powerful opportunity to make a difference in young people's lives. Thank you for everyone working with East to West - please encourage them and help them bring in changes that allow them to meet the growing need they see.

After John brought his harsh message Jesus arrived with a different emphasis:

"Turn back from the brink: heaven is right here."

Lord, give us a new understanding of the hope and the urgency of this truth: heaven is right here, now - we watch expectantly to see you walking with us, we want to trust you, and we choose to trust that even the darkest situations can change.

Bring heaven right here, through us and in us.

Amen