O our God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against the mighty army that is about to attack us.  We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help. (NLT)

What is it that grieves you in today’s world? Is it a local, regional or national tragedy or event? A senseless murder of a member of your community that leaves a family without a husband or wife, a father or mother? Is it a massive hurricane that takes lives and displaces hundreds of families? Perhaps it’s the many regional wars happening around the world and you’re concerned for what the impact may be to America or a family member that is serving in the military. Maybe it’s today’s election, and you’re worried about what will happen if your party does not get elected.  

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With our immediate access to real-time events, it’s virtually impossible to not be flooded by the goings on in the world. Unlike our grandparents, who would get their news in a newspaper with yesterday’s events printed for today or on one of three TV channels at 5 o’clock in the evening, the events of today come at us in a flurry. It causes sensory overload and even more anxiety because it is nonstop. What can we do about this?

King Jehoshaphat, the 4th ruler of the divided kingdom of Judah, points us to an answer in 2 Chronicles 20. One day a messenger came to him and said that a vast army was marching against him and his people and that army was already at his doorstep. You would think he would have become distraught and overwhelmed by what he was about to face, but he wasn’t. The very first thing he did was to beg the Lord for guidance. He then ordered everyone in Judah and Jerusalem to fast; people came from all over the land to pray to the Lord. What Josephat did next was to gather all these people together to pray. In his book The Party Crasher, Joshua Ryan Butler suggests the same course of action for us in the form of deliberate and corporate prayer.  

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What do these corporate prayers look like? We start with confession. What are our shortcomings? Then we lament (show grief and sorrow) over the brokenness of this world. Then we make these our prayers without opinion, but also prayers that do not hide the issues we all face in generalities. They are specific in nature. For example, as we pray over a conflict in the world, our prayer is not focused on what side we think is right, or against what side we think is wrong, but rather for the people of the conflict. Both sides are suffering losses and both sides are uncertain; our prayer might address the innocent victims of the conflict.  

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Another example could be in praying for today’s election. Instead of praying for or against a candidate, could we focus our prayer on our country, regardless of our political leanings? Could we agree in prayer that God would take center stage in our country and that his will is done? It may not come naturally at first because of our inherent biases, but try it. Try it with other believers, try it with those that may not have the same views as you, try it in your small group. It may be difficult at first, but with practice, it will likely become more natural. You may just find that common ground you do share with your brother or sister when your focus is on Christ and your bow is to him alone.

Heavenly Father, I pray that my brothers and sisters can come together and put our differences aside to pray together corporately. I pray that our prayer is to focus on the things that matter to YOU, on the humanity which you, God, created in your image. Let our joint prayers create unity as believers. Let our focus be upon you alone. I ask this in your holy name, amen.