In Iraq ISIS warriors have marked Christian homes with the Arabic letter ن (n), which signifies Christians, or “Nazarenes.” Christians in social media have adopted #WeAreN to signify solidarity with Iraqi Christians.
This week I’ve found myself praying the Lord’s Prayer with greater intensity. I have been praying for the Iraqi Christians who have been persecuted and dislocated by ISIS.
Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. The psalmist asked “Why do the nations rage?” (Psalm 2:1). Paul answered, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God… Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:10-11; 15-18 ESV). So I pray, “How long O Lord?” My heart grieves for the suffering of creation, knowing that the cries of suffering human are the birth pangs of New Creation (Romans 8:18:-25). In the midst of human horror, I envision a kingdom of “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17).
Give us this day our daily bread. Watching the news I heard an Iraqi Christian tell his story. ISIS warriors have forced them from their homes and robbed them of anything of value. I reflected on the words of Jesus: “For those days will be a time of tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will. Unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days” (Mark 13:19-21). For the Iraqi Christians, this is a time of great tribulation. Will God provide daily bread for them? Will God shorten their tribulation? Will rich Christians throughout the world open their hearts to their suffering brothers and sisters? How long O Lord?
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. It’s easy to become angry and cry for vengeance. But Jesus has told us to turn the other cheek and to love our enemies (Matthew 5:38-45). In other words, we cry out for mercy. I’m not a pacifist. I embrace the cause of a “just war.” However, if we choose vengeance, then we choose violence and bloodshed. The violence becomes a never ending downward spiral to the heart of hell. Even so, many humans will choose the violence. Lord, please forgive us.
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Peter wrote, “Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. To Him be dominion forever and ever” (1 Peter 5:8-11). If my brothers and sisters in Iraq, and throughout the world are suffering, then the whole body of Christ is suffering. Since I live in the southeast United States I am removed from violence of Iraq. It would be easy for me live in isolation. But God has called me into all the world. If I am to fulfill that call, then I must embrace the suffering of humanity everywhere. O Lord, please deliver us from evil.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. This is our blessed hope. God has installed God’s King (Psalm 2:6; Philippians 2:9-11). I anticipate the Day of the Lord when “the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God” (1 Thessalonians 4:16). I yearn for this long nightmare to end, and for the revelation of the Light of the world (Revelation 22:5).
Amen.
The text of the Lord’s Prayer is from The New King James Version, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Matthew 6:9-13.
