God,

We come before You in this time with heavy hearts. We are hurting, we are confused, we are questioning why this has happened. Why do we live in a world in which so much pain and heartache exists? We wonder why so many people have to die because of hatred and maliciousness. We are left with our thoughts and fears--who is safe? Is it safe anywhere, for anyone?

But God, You know our hearts, You know the fears that circulate in our brains every day. You know each of us by name. So today, I ask that you begin healing us, at our very cores. Lord, I pray that You would heal our hurt feelings, our misconceptions about others, our judgements that we've clung to. I pray that You would heal each individual heart. That through our healing, we would learn to love others--unconditionally, without question, and to the point of no return. God, I pray that we would love them when love is unwarranted, when love is unwanted, and when we are unwilling.

God, I pray that You would begin to heal us as a nation. I pray that we would unite as citizens of the United States, as a people who desire a lot of the same things--our freedom, freedom to feel safe, freedom to protect ourselves, and freedom to voice our opinions. I pray that we would begin to see more similarities than we see differences. I pray that we would be reminded of the basic human rights and that we would see each other as deserving of those rights. I pray that we would learn to disagree respectfully and to love regardless of differing opinions.

I pray that we would heal as humans. I pray that we would have a better understanding of the human heart and the human condition. I pray we would be more giving and that we would see each other as friends rather than enemies. Our instinct is too often to believe that that person asking us for spare change at the gas station is lying, that that the person begging for money on the street corner isn't really homeless; instead I wish that we would be more willing to believe people and give them the benefit of the doubt.

God, today, I pray that as we remember the lives lost, like Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and the many Dallas officers killed during the Dallas Police shooting, we would remember that each human life, every single one is precious. That somewhere in the world there is another person who waits for that person to come home, give them a call, and let them know that they are okay. I pray that we would remember that for these people, the suffering will be far greater than we can imagine. I pray that we would walk taller, hand in hand, loving each other. I pray that we would put love above all else.

Lord, we love You and we thank You for Your goodness, Your faithfulness, and the love that You constantly share.

It is in Your name that I pray all of these things.

In Your name, Amen.