Our fellow blogger Rev. Timothy Fountain has called for a 40-day period of prayer and fasting for the Lakota Indian Rosebud Reservation, plagued by a high incidence of suicide.
The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. Ezekiel 37:1-2
Dear Heavenly Father,
We cry out for Your people, the Lakota Indians. They stand in a valley of dry bones. Have mercy.
Send them Your word and open their ears to hear it. Breathe on them and teach them to receive Your Holy Spirit. Lay sinews and flesh and skin upon them. Restore their hope and bring new life, we pray in the name of Your Son Christ Jesus, the Lord of Life. Amen.
Thanks, dear friends in Christ.
The Valley of Dry Bones is fitting – Ezekiel describes the “fallen host (army) of Israel.”
The Rosebud Sioux are calling for a “War on Suicide” – the warrior is a traditional male role in the tribe, a role damaged by the destruction of their traditional culture.
To call on a resurrection of the warrior, transformed by Christ to fight with divine weapons, is a good way to pray.