A Prayer for Peace With God

Father, we come to you at the close of this week with tired minds and mixed records, and we thank you that our standing with you does not depend on either. You justified us through faith. You gave us peace with yourself through our Lord Jesus Christ. We did not make that peace and we cannot unmake it.

Teach us to glory in the right things. Where we are suffering, give us perseverance. Where we are persevering, build character in us. Where character is forming, let hope rise, the kind of hope that does not put us to shame because your love has been poured into our hearts by your Holy Spirit.

We remember tonight that Christ died for us while we were still sinners, still weak, still your enemies. Let that memory quiet our anxious striving. If you did the hardest thing when we were far from you, you will surely finish what you began now that we are near.

Give us rest this weekend that is more than the absence of work. Give us the rest of people who have been reconciled. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.