A prayer of unity we bring to You today, Lord,
For we overflow with Your undeserved love,
Your care and compassion,
Your slowness to anger, and Your quickness to forgive.
Put the same heart in us, Father God.
Help us to never to be boastful or proud,
Never to be wise in our own understanding,
Never to look down on our fellow men.
On the contrary, we ask that You help us be
Patient, humble, caring, compassionate, and sincere.
Let us demonstrate Your truth in love
By looking upon our enemies and instead
Seeing the lost souls of those You love
And sent Your Son to redeem.
Never let us compromise Your truth for a lie.
Let our Congress put these characteristics into practice
As they come together to debate the best policies for our nation.
Help us be a people engaged and caring.
Help us get out of our selfishness, and give us a heart for our neighbors.
Give us a heart both for our fellow countrymen and
For all the peoples of the world.
We ask for healed race relations in our country, Lord.
Few things bring as much raw emotion as this.
Help us see that only through You would we be able
To move past the hurts, abuses, and resentments on this issue.
Help us to look beyond what our eyes can see,
To be like You, Who told us
That man looks at the outward appearance,
But You look at the heart.
Help us look at hearts also –
Hearts in desperate need of salvation.
You are that salvation,
And we praise You.
We will praise You forevermore.
Amen.