sympathy | West Park Baptist Church

Today’s prayer comes from Jeff Wiggs, husband, father, member of West Park and servant leader on the West Park Prayer Leadership Team.

1 Peter 3:8 – Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. (ESV)

As we are spending time with Peter in this passage from his letters to the church, I am struck by how powerful his advice to them is. The church was growing and was persecuted. There were many things vying for their attention and their allegiance. They needed to find their true identity in one place: the person of Jesus Christ.

This doesn’t lessen the other parts of who we are, it prioritizes who we are. We are aliens and foreigners to this world. We are His people, His nation, His priesthood to this world. We must have a unity in our minds around Christ. The outflow of this is sympathy and brotherly love because we see people for who they are and ourselves for the redeemed sinners we are.

This is an encouragement to me and gives me hope in the beauty of the community of Christ.

Let us pray together…

Our Loving and Faithful Heavenly Father, You are just and mighty. You are a strong tower that we run to for shelter in the midst of the storms of this life. How it is storming right now. We have brothers and sisters who are sick and need comfort; who are sin-sick and need a word from You; who feel mute because no one seems to listen to their pleas for justice, for a change; who are desperate for a reprieve from the isolation and separation that is their lot right now. I pray that your Spirit would help us see those around us, sheltering in the base of your tower, weeping at the foot of the cross, and that we would sympathize with them. I pray that we would remember what it is like to be there and have compassion on those we see hurting.

You have sent us as your royal ambassadors, messengers of the King to this world we are traveling in. You had a plan for us before this world began. You knew we would turn away but you set it in motion because you loved us still. This plan involves a great mission, to show your kingdom to those who would hear and to bring the message of your good news to the poor and hungry of this world. We bring a message of freedom to the captives and a promise of hope to those blinded by this sin-sick world. Help our words to pour out from our brotherly love. Help us to be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to judge those around us. To be sympathetic to the frustrations and needs of our brothers and sisters. We are one race, one people, you are making of us one nation. Let the differences we see be beautiful in our eyes and the love that you have for us filter our vision of each other.

Knit us together in unity of mind that we may be effective in this mission you have before us. Teach us to repent: to turn from our sins and to follow hard after you. Teach us to forgive: to not hold a grudge, but to offer a meal, an ear, and a helping hand to all who are in need. Let us fight for the dignity of our brothers and sisters and to surrender our pride as we look to represent you on this earth. We pray this in the name of the one who unites us, who loves us, and who sent us. We pray this in Jesus’ name.

And so let it be. Amen.