What should we pray?

Many of us feel the need to pray about the Lindt tragedy.

On Twitter, the hashtag #PrayForSydney is trending up there with #sydneysiege and #MartinPlaceSiege so it's clearly a topic on people's minds.

But if you're like me, it's hard to know what to pray. It's hard to comprehend what has happened let alone string words together.

As a follower of Jesus, I look to his teaching for answers. And I'm sharing my thoughts here in the hope you find it helpful. And even if you are not a follower of Jesus, I hope his words stimulate your thinking and your prayers.

This is how Jesus taught his disciples to pray …

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

There are a number of ways this prayer is helpful.

• It gives us words to say. It would be silly for us to mouth words we don't mean or understand, but sometimes praying something is a start. And the Lord's Prayer is a good place to start.
• It's good to pray for people's needs. Events like this can make us feel small and powerless. But it's comforting to know God is concerned about us. Jesus teaches his disciples to call God 'Father' and to ask for 'daily bread'. We could pray for …
  • comfort for the families of the victims
  • solace for Sydney-siders as we try to process what has happened
  • strength as we support people
  • wisdom for the authorities
• There is hope for justice. A huge wrong has been done, but it's unclear how justice can ever be done. Even if the gunman had survived it's hard to see how these wrongs could be made right. Yet Jesus encourages us to look forward to God's kingdom, where justice will be done, and tears will be dried.
• We need to pray to be forgivers. A temptation we face is to hate and to seek retribution. Some will blame the innocent (like our Muslim neighbours) and others will blame the authorities (with the benefit of hindsight). Jesus teaches that God's kingdom is for those who are forgiven and are in turn forgivers. This is a forgiveness that takes God's justice seriously and wants to be found on the right side of it.