Are you sure?
This bookmark will be removed from all folders and any saved notes will be permanently removed.
Eye on the World: prayer for stability in Iraq
The long-standing conflict between Shiite and Sunni Muslims in Iraq came to a head this week, as a series of car bombings took place across Shiite neighborhoods in the capital city of Baghdad and across the country. Nearly 50 people were killed in the attacks; no group has yet claimed responsibility. The bombings are the latest sign of heightened sectarian conflict in Iraq; several other attacks — and one large-scale jailbreak — have occurred in the past few months. Many Iraqis are angry at Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Shiite government for not doing more to improve the country’s security situation.
Analysts say most of Iraq’s instability comes from divisions between Sunnis and Shiites, and between Arabs and Kurds. How can those concerned about the country’s future make a difference? One way is through prayer — not a vague appeal to God to end bloodshed, but a specific insistence that God is already governing in Iraq, and that any attempts to instill fear or hopelessness in the population are illegitimate.
“Commissioned as sentinels,” written by a veteran military chaplain, explains how each of us can take a spiritual stand in our prayers for Iraq. As we pray, we seek the illumination of the Christ — God’s healing message to humanity — and this light displaces fear, disillusionment, and apathy in our thinking and enables us to be sentinels, witnessing God at work in the Middle East and elsewhere. This is the polar opposite of a “look the other way” approach; rather, our prayers push us to engage with world events, recognizing that since terrorism and violence don’t come from God they can’t have the final say in anyone’s life.
Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.
