100 days of Prayer
Day 100
To
conclude the 100 days of peace and hope the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin
Welby has written the following Six Rs of Reconciliation to reflect on as we
pray for peace, hope and reconciliation in our time. Let’s meditate on 2 R’s today, 2 R’s tomorrow
and 2 R’s the day after.
The
Archbishop of Canterbury’s Six Rs of Reconciliation.
Researching
…and
they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God with us’. Matthew 1:23
Pursuing
reconciliation requires research. Research is there to demythologise a conflict
and say what the real problem is. Very often it’s a complicated problem that
needs to deal with the hard questions of justice and inequality. That can only
be done by being present with those who are suffering. We have to listen to
what they are saying without judgement. We have to be in the middle, sharing
their pain and anguish. We have to be caught up emotionally, to weep, protest
and lament. Because that is what Jesus Christ did with us. The reconciliation
between God and human beings came through God sovereignly becoming human. He
moved from God
‘out there’
to God ‘with us’.
Relating
For God so loved the world that he gave his
one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
eternal life. John 3:16
Reconciliation
is not a mechanistic process; it’s relational. If you find yourself involved in
reconciliation as a method, it won’t work. In John 3, we read that God sent
Jesus because he loved the world, not because he’d worked it all out and
thought it would be a good thing to do. Reconciliation is affective: our
affections have to be involved. That means you build relationships with some
pretty odd people. But, equally, you build relationships with the most amazing
people. There is a sense of deep emotion. We have to love those in the conflict
– the bad and the good – for that is the pattern of God to us
Prayer
Let us
remember those who have died for their country in war; those we knew, and all
who have given their lives for freedom, justice and the hope of peace. As we
look forward and seek the way of peace and reconciliation, you might like to say
this prayer: Lord, strengthen our hearts, hands, and minds, to work together
for peace; to see you in one another, and to seek your kingdom above all
things; that your will may be seen to be done, and your Kingdom come, through
Jesus Christ, the Lord of lords and King of kings. Amen.
[The
Liturgical Commission of the Church of England 2018, © The Archbishops’
Council]
Please pray and share with
your intercessors, Bible Study Groups, Prayer Groups, Church Prayers, Men &
Women’s Groups. Thank you.
Las & Arlene Ratnayake
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