Today is Martin Luther King’s birthday. In noting the date, we also note the difficult challenges he faced in attempting to create better relations among races and ethnic groups. We are confronted by demonic forces which seek to divide us and to destroy our resolve to live in harmony with one another and with the world God has given us. But God goes with us as we battle our demons, and He wills that we should conquer them. Therefore let us, with confidence, worship God.
Pastoral Prayer
On this national holiday weekend, O God, we thank Thee for the singular witness of Martin Luther King, the man we honor each year at this time. We recall his steadfast life, in all its strengths and weaknesses, and his determination to be a lifelong drum major for justice. By Thy spirit moving among us still, may we collectively seek to effect the changes he sought, so that his dream may become our dream. May it come to pass that all people shall live together in racial peace, and that all our citizens shall be treated equally and fairly under the laws of both the nation and the states. We especially ask Thee to bless those who daily toil in the legal trenches to achieve liberty and justice for all.
We pray for Thy guidance and strength as we battle the dark forces which clearly assail us or attempt to overthrow us by subtler means that we might never recognize. Uphold us when we do battle with factors we know are obviously wrong: prejudice, intolerance, hatred, inter-class rivalry or enmity, and unfairness toward people who have little or no power. Strengthen us also to combat temptations which confront us much more indirectly: to laugh at jokes told at the expense of certain kinds of people; to remain silent when others are being defamed for no valid reason; to look the other way when the weak are attacked by the strong. Darkness constantly attempts to envelop us, and therefore we pray that the light Thou hast shined into the world may reach into the dark corners of our existence, where disembodied demons work to overthrow us.
We pray for everyone who currently is fighting a brave battle to maintain their faith in the midst of circumstances which might overthrow it: illness, pain, sorrow, loneliness, and feelings of desertion or depression or deep dejection. Lord God, without Thee, we can quickly become lost, but with Thee, and with the knowledge that Thou wilt guide and uphold us through all things, we trust in Thy loving grace to lead us to a good and victorious end, through the power of Thy Son Jesus Christ, our Lord. Now we join together in the prayer he taught his first disciples, repeating it with millions of people all around the world, saying, Our Father….