Murder

(photo copyright Richard Croft)

Do not murder. (Exodus 20:13)

This week we will use the second half of the Ten Commandments to pray about the realities of sin in our world. The sixth commandment is only three words long: "Do not murder." As we have seen over the last few years, this commandment is broken not just in big cities, but in Central Iowa as well. Murder leaves an enormous amount of hurt and pain behind, not only for the friends and family of the victim, but also for the one who killed.

In Genesis 4, when Cain killed his brother, God said, "Your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground!" God is the ultimate avenger, but remarkably He is also the one who offers grace even to those who murder. The apostle Paul himself was an accessory to murder, yet he was used powerfully by God to build the church. As we pray today, let us pray that God would turn murderers away from their course of action, and that where murders have already happened, God's grace would invade the lives of everyone affected.

Starter prayer:

Father, we ask You to restrain the evil all around us that leads to murder. We pray for the families of both victims and murderers, and for the murderers themselves, that they would see that there is no sin too great for your grace to forgive.