The Week of Peace
As your peace rules in our hearts, we give thanks to you, Lord, and rejoice in the birth of the Prince of Peace. Amen
Weekly Advent Prayers by Betty Claire Jackson
By Lance Mayes
Isaiah 11:6-9
“The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat;
the calf and the young lion will feed together, and a little child will lead them.
The cow and the bear will graze.
Their young will lie down together, and a lion will eat straw like an ox.
A nursing child will play over the snake’s hole;
toddlers will reach right over the serpent’s den.
They won’t harm or destroy anywhere on my holy mountain.
The earth will surely be filled with the knowledge of the LORD,
just as the water covers the sea.”
This word picture is difficult for us to see. We see conflict, wars, fights, and arguments all around the world and around our own lives. We live among violence and fear. Our blood pressure goes up, and our faces get red as we get angry and fearful. We may not even be able to see peace as a distant light at the end of the tunnel.
But, it is a beautiful picture of peace. This peace looks like what the Garden of Eden was like. This peace is for all of creation: the land, animals, and people. This peace is not just sometime in the future; this peace is available now.
Thank you, God, that this peace is brought by your grace and does not depend on us. Thank you for Jesus, who is both the Lion of Judah and the Lamb of God, both mighty and vulnerable.
God, we ask that knowledge of you will fill the whole earth so that we might experience this peace. Help us to see where peace already is, no matter how small it might be. God help us to be bringers of peace and to share knowledge of you wherever we go. This is our prayer in the name of the Prince of Peace, Jesus the Christ, Amen.