Prayer

In the Detroit Free Press, Nancy A. Youssef reports that in response to a wave of violent crime - 104 homicides compared to 68 at the same time last year - the Detroit Police department took an unusual track and scheduled a day of prayer. In fact, the mayor and chief of police mandated that each precinct would honor an hour for officers to spend in prayer.

Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick acknowledged that bringing peace to the city is a bigger task than the police alone can achieve, "The change, the mayor and chief said, must come from the community and with God's help. It depends on everyone to call "on the power of God," Kilpatrick said.

Naturally, critics have complained. Youssef writes, "From national experts to cops who work the city's streets, (they) said the Police Department was just throwing its hands up in the air." Interesting - that is exactly what the psalmist calls us to do. In Psalm 88 believers are called to spread out their hands to God, why because in Psalm 140:4 the psalmist calls out to the Lord, asking God to protect and deliver them from the hands of those who plan to trip my feet. Congratulations to the mayor of Detroit and the Detroit Police department as they acknowledge where their real help resides.

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