May Mercy, Peace, and Love Be Yours

May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
Jude 1:2 NASB

At times, I don’t know how to pray for the world around me. The needs seem too complex, too convoluted. Relationships are conflicted and the church wars against itself. How do I address the pain, anger, and fear I see all around me?

Jude, the half-brother of Jesus—Mary of Nazareth’s other son—prayed for the recipients of his letter (those who are called, loved, and kept) to have mercy, peace, and love in abundance. This seems like a good place to start.

Precious Father, for those experiencing pain, hunger, injustice, or lack of any kind, I pray that you would show them mercy in abundance. Please see their hopelessness, take pity on them, and act on their behalf. I ask you to reveal to them your ultimate act of mercy when you gave Jesus to die in their place. I pray that you God, who are so rich in mercy, would give them an eternal, bountiful, fulfilling life.

For those caught in conflict and filled with inner turmoil and anxiety, I pray that you, Lord, would give them peace in abundance. Reassure them that they have peace with you because they have accepted your invitation to join your family. I ask you, Father God, to fill them with peace of heart and mind and take away their fear—of you and of the world.

For those feeling alone, unworthy, unwanted, and unnoticed, I pray that you would show them love in abundance. May your benevolent and unconditional love seep into their whole being. I ask that the same love that sent Jesus to die in their place would convince them of your lavish love and enable them to love others.

Lord God, give your children mercy, peace, and love in abundance, so that we will be assured of and grateful for our salvation, not striving to produce some great deeds to earn your favor. So that we will know our identity as your children, feel loved and valued, secure, and not be afraid of you. Multiply and overflow these traits in us to make us more content with our life, our talents, our income, and our relationships. Teach us to seek ways to relieve the suffering of others because we have be shown mercy. Help us do the hard word of reconciliation and mediation, not merely avoiding conflict.

For those not experiencing mercy, peace, and love, I pray that first they might accept your invitation, Lord, to join your family and have eternal life. I pray that others would deal with any past wounding that prohibits their ability to believe they are loved. Show them how deeply you love them.

Father God, as Jude prayed for me, I pray for my brothers and sisters to have mercy—true compassion for others that moves them to do something to relieve the suffering of others. I ask that they have peace, first with you. May many come to accept your invitation to eternal life. Then may they have peace from you producing a soul untroubled and resting in your goodness. Finally I pray for love—sacrificial love shown to one another. And I ask for an abundance of these three. Multiple them in us so that they overflow through us to a hurting and fractured world.

In Jesus’s name, Amen

Have you accepted God’s mercy? How are you extending that mercy to others?

Is your soul at peace with God? How are you daily experiencing God’s peace?

How has God shown his love to you? How might you display his love to others?