Pray for Peace People Everywhere

We spent last Sunday afternoon at the American Music Theatre (AMT) seeing their 2015 Christmas Show: Deck the Halls. Somewhere after “The Happy Elf” and “I Wish I Could Be Santa Claus,” it morphed into a worship service for me.

It started with our standing for the “Hallelujah Chorus” from the Messiah. Christ reigns. Lord of Lords and King of Kings.

At our Gus’s Diner Sunday school class that morning we had talked about The Golden Rule in Matthew 7. How do we train ourselves to think of others first, to love others as Christ desires us to love others? Can we change our thinking so it becomes natural?

Then in church Les spoke on Proverbs 4:23:

“Above all else,
guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.”

He asked what we would do to guard our hearts, to ensure that our souls were healthy in 2016.

I felt the two discussions were related. Wouldn’t having a healthy soul, a right relationship with God, enable me to love others well, to treat them the way I wish to be treated?

So what would I do? What changes would I make in my life in 2015 to be more in tune with God? The answer came in my AMT worship service.

When the “Hallelujah Chorus” concluded, the ensemble began to sing “Do You Hear What I Hear?” A cute song, but I’ve never thought it had much real significance.

Yet as they began the final verse, I was suddenly alert. Here was the king, the earthly king “in his palace warm” in the previous verse, who, after worshipping the child, tells the people:

“Pray for peace, people everywhere.”

Pray for peace. How our world—my small world, even—needs that.

I had been excited about the next song—my favorite Christmas carol—“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” But as the five men began to sing it, with its message of “peace on earth, good will to men,” tears began to course down my cheeks.

“And in despair I bowed my head:

‘There is no peace on earth,’ I said,

‘For hate is strong and mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good will to men.’”

What’s the point of praying for peace? “Hate is strong.”

And yet . . .

“Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

‘God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,

With peace on earth, good will to men.’”

God is the God of peace.

And I am to be a woman of peace. Romans says, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” and “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace.”

So what if my answer on how to enhance my relationship with God this year, how to guard my heart, is to “pray for peace”?

• If I pray for peace, won’t I be more likely to practice The Golden Rule?
• If I pray for peace in my home, won’t I look for ways to bless my husband?
• If I pray for peace in my church, won’t I watch what I say so I am not sowing discord?
• If I pray for peace at my job, won’t I look to serve others by taking on the more onerous tasks?
• If I pray for peace in my country, won’t I try to listen to the concerns, thoughts and opinions of others and to understand?
• If I pray for peace in our world, won’t I work for justice, for dignity, for love? Won’t I share the love of Christ?

And if I pray for peace in each and every situation, won’t I find God’s peace invading my heart because he himself is present?

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

I’m spending 2016 praying for peace.

I’m trusting God to use it to guard my heart. And if it changes the world, so much the better.

Care to join me?