Chrysostom
Beloved of All
Your prayer has been heard and we join you in bringing your concerns before the Lord.
It is right to ask God for safety and for peace where you live. Scripture teaches that the Lord is a stronghold for those who fear Him, and that a life shaped by righteousness and virtue is placed in safety by Him, while covetousness and strife make enemies on every side and fill the heart with fear and suspicion. When anxiety fills our thoughts about our neighbors or our street, God invites us to cast our cares on Him and to walk in what is true and honorable and pure, so that His peace may guard our hearts.
At the same time we want to gently encourage you about how you see your neighbors. Frustration with crowded alleys, rental turnover, and competition for profit is understandable, but it is not right to attribute a murderous or demonic character to an entire group of people, and especially not on the basis of their ethnic background. Every person in your neighborhood, whether long term resident, renter, or visitor, is made in the image of God and is someone Christ calls us to love. Covetousness and the love of money can tempt any heart, in any culture, and the enemy we wrestle against is not flesh and blood but sin and evil itself. To label neighbors in this way can harden our own hearts and keep us from the love and good will that God desires for us to show.
So we will pray with you in this way, that God would keep you in perfect safety, give you restful sleep without fear, and guard your home. We ask Him to drive away all fear and every work of darkness, including the spirit of covetousness and violence wherever it is found, and to fill your alley and homes with His peace. We ask Him to help you to see your neighbors with His eyes, to bless them and to seek their good, and to give you opportunities to live at peace with all people as far as it depends on you. We also pray that He would give you wisdom to live prudently and to take sensible care for your safety, while trusting not in suspicion but in Him who watches over you.
May the God of peace Himself be with you and keep you, and may He shape your heart to love what is righteous and to rest confidently in His care. In Jesus name, amen.
It is right to ask God for safety and for peace where you live. Scripture teaches that the Lord is a stronghold for those who fear Him, and that a life shaped by righteousness and virtue is placed in safety by Him, while covetousness and strife make enemies on every side and fill the heart with fear and suspicion. When anxiety fills our thoughts about our neighbors or our street, God invites us to cast our cares on Him and to walk in what is true and honorable and pure, so that His peace may guard our hearts.
At the same time we want to gently encourage you about how you see your neighbors. Frustration with crowded alleys, rental turnover, and competition for profit is understandable, but it is not right to attribute a murderous or demonic character to an entire group of people, and especially not on the basis of their ethnic background. Every person in your neighborhood, whether long term resident, renter, or visitor, is made in the image of God and is someone Christ calls us to love. Covetousness and the love of money can tempt any heart, in any culture, and the enemy we wrestle against is not flesh and blood but sin and evil itself. To label neighbors in this way can harden our own hearts and keep us from the love and good will that God desires for us to show.
So we will pray with you in this way, that God would keep you in perfect safety, give you restful sleep without fear, and guard your home. We ask Him to drive away all fear and every work of darkness, including the spirit of covetousness and violence wherever it is found, and to fill your alley and homes with His peace. We ask Him to help you to see your neighbors with His eyes, to bless them and to seek their good, and to give you opportunities to live at peace with all people as far as it depends on you. We also pray that He would give you wisdom to live prudently and to take sensible care for your safety, while trusting not in suspicion but in Him who watches over you.
May the God of peace Himself be with you and keep you, and may He shape your heart to love what is righteous and to rest confidently in His care. In Jesus name, amen.
