Prayer for Ethiopia | Justice Worriers Episode 21

Justice Worriers podcast

Andy, Leah, and Jörg try an experiment: praying together by discussing the awful violence happening in Ethiopia and working together to work out how to pray about it. This involves the usual doubt and self-contradiction, time to listen to some lamentation from the bible and a time of silence, leading to the creation of a spoken prayer that is as raw and honest as they can manage.

Here's the prayer:

"God, what are you doing? People are being brutally killed in Ethiopia. Lies are being told. Where is your truth?

"We are sorry for our narrow compassion and lack of imagination. We humans are so quick to let fear turn into violence to protect our own group. We can't escape from this pattern without you.

"God, do something.

"We call forth Peace: establish the works of the peacemakers, establish the works of the witnesses, establish the works of people brave enough to speak out, establish the work of the protectors. Protect them, encourage them.

"What should we do? Make us peacemakers in our situations. Use our resources for people in need - can we give money to help the refugees?

"Shatter our smug self-satisfaction. Break our hearts. Break them in a way that makes us useful - not so we're too broken to act. Give us hopeful brokenness.

"We call for Love, and Peace, and Compassion to break out in our world.

"Your Kingdom Come. Your Kingdom Come. Your Kingdom Come."

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