Survivors of Highland Park

Let’s lift up those who were present and those who are mourning the July 4 mass shooting at Highland Park, Illinois, where seven died and close to 40 were injured.

Lord, please comfort the families and other loved ones mourning the deaths of Irina (35) and Kevin (37) McCarthy, Katherine Goldstein (64), Jacquelyn Sundheim (63), Nicolas Toledo (78) and Stephen Straus (88). Let them feel Your arms around them, holding them close. As they weep in the night, let them sense Your presence with them and hear Your voice bringing them peace. When they cry out to You, answer them, O God of Comfort. For those who know You, please deepen their faith and give them grace to forgive. For those who do not yet know you, call them into salvation. Remind us all of how short life is, and set our feet on Your paths so we will spend every moment living Your purposes.

Please also be with those who are injured or suffering with shock, nightmares and other effects of the shooting. Heal them, Lord, physically and mentally. Bring Christians to them to love them and care for them — medical workers, counselors, ministers, family members, church goers and friends who will hold them up during this difficult time, pray for them, speak words of comfort, and help them to wholeness. Cast out fear with Your perfect love, and give them a longing for You, a deep need to know that they will be in Heaven when they die. Draw those who love You all the closer, and those who don’t know You into Your kingdom. As they seek You for healing, set them free from the effects of trauma and use them to minister to each other in this difficult time.

And for the shooter, Robert Crimo III (21), we ask You, Lord, to pierce through the darkness of his heart with Your truth and light. Give him deep remorse for what he has done. Tear him apart inside with his need for You. And then bring a chaplain to him or provide another way for him to hear Your Good News and be saved. Bind up the demons that have bound him, and break the chains that dragged him into violence and the desire for death. Give him, his father Robert, and his uncle Paul, who also lived with them, a deep hunger for You, Lord, and offer them Your plan of salvation. Bring from this terrible situation something good by Your hand.

Stop the shootings. Stop the violence. Guard our children so they don’t fall to Satan’s plans. Drive parents into loving churches to raise their children in Your arms. Awaken us all to Truth, capture us by Your love, save the lost, and draw us all into Your love, Lord. Only Your love can save us from hate, fear, sin and death. Only in Your arms are we truly safe.

For steps to freedom from fear and trauma, and to help children grow up in Jesus’ arms, free from demonic strongholds, see the Pure-As-Gold Seal children’s books and deep Bible studies for parents and teens at MoreThanAConquerorBooks.com.

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