Picture by Kevin Probst
I sit at my desk with a heavy heart tonight. I’ve been watching reports about Charlie Kirk’s assassination and trying to reckon with what to say and how to act. I knew of his work, though I did not know him personally. As someone with a public voice, I feel the weight of influence and responsibility. These words are a prayer — first for the man and his family, then for our nation, and finally for the changes we must make in our own lives.
My heartfelt prayer
My Heavenly Father, my heart is heavy tonight. I come to You confused, grieving, and hopeful all at once. I have watched the news and read the words of strangers and friends, and my soul aches for a country that should not tolerate this kind of violence. Violence — especially against leaders, whether political or godly views — has no place in our land.
Yet even now, O Lord, I believe You are at work. When our enemy, satan, seems to triumph in one arena, You are already weaving a greater purpose. Do not let Charlie’s death be wasted. Turn sorrow into a holy spark that ignites revival — a turning of our youth and our nation back to You, to Your Word, and to the truth that sets us free. Let this moment awaken a generation to seek You with urgency and humility.
Lord, move in the hearts of our leaders. Fan into flame a godly courage in those who govern us — not for power’s sake, but to defend liberty, conscience, and the principles our nation was built upon. Give them conviction, wisdom, and the moral backbone to stand for truth, and do not let satan thwart their courage.
Let the grief and shock we feel drive us to be Your instruments — warriors of prayer and mercy in a fractured society. Teach us to resist violence of body and spirit. Teach us to replace hateful rhetoric with patient truth. Teach us to love those who think differently, to listen before we speak, to seek the good of our neighbors even when we disagree.
Make Charlie’s message ring truer than ever. If he becomes a symbol, let it be a symbol that unites us rather than divides us. Use this martyrdom — tragic though it is — to move us toward reconciliation, renewed civic virtue, and devotion to the common good.
Most of all, change me. Change us. Let this calamity reshape us into people who act with more prayerful courage, more deliberate kindness, and firmer commitment to justice tempered with mercy. Help us to answer grief with service, outrage with disciplined action, and fear with faith.
Lord, if there is a course You would have each of us take in the days ahead, give us the clarity and the courage to walk it. Let our response be prayerful, practical, and pure — a testimony that the life taken here deepens many lives redeemed.
In Jesus’ holy name I pray, Amen.
A simple way forward — four small responses you can begin today:
- Pray intentionally for the family, for leaders, and for wisdom to act without hatred.
- Reach out: call or visit someone who disagrees with you — listen first, love second.
- Serve locally: volunteer, feed the hungry, or help a neighbor in need — grief heals into service.
- Speak truth with grace: when you use your voice online or in your community, choose clarity, courage, and compassion.
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Grace and peace to you in 2025.
In His Service,
Ron