July 5, 2022 | by Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner | NCNW National Chaplain and President of Skinner Leadership Institute| barbarawilliams-skinner.com
O Lord, our God, how magnificent, marvelous, and majestic is your name in all the earth. Your name is a mighty fortress that your people can run for safety. Yet, today, O God, the spirit of fear, anxiety, panic, and terror are ruling our land, unleashing chaos, confusion, and conflict in a daily regimen of violence and lawlessness. But you, Lord God, have all power in your hand and are sovereign over every situation and danger we face. So, today, we lean into your promise: “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7
We claim the mountain-moving power of your love to replace fear over the nation’s future. We reclaim our spiritual authority as bearers of your overpowering love, so, wherever we show up, love replaces hate and indifference. We reclaim the all-sufficient power of your spirit within us to speak to the spirit of idolatry to White supremacy and White Christian Nationalism capturing far too many in your churches. We command this spirit to flee back to the pit of Hades. We call forth believers of every race and background to build bridges of mutual respect, joining together and replacing systemic racism with racial equity. We call down the spirit of fear over America’s growing diversity —fueling laws violating the precious voting rights of People of Color, the elderly, disabled, students, ex-offenders, and the poor of every race and weakening our democracy.
Holy Spirit of God, we petition you to speak to the hearts of your people, drawing them back to claim the sacredness of all life you created so that the spirit of murder in the land would be arrested in its many death-producing forms. We, your people, claim anew, for ourselves and our nation, a spirit of love over hate and indifference, and of faith over fear, in the mighty and matchless name of our Lord and Liberator, Jesus Christ. Amen.
