Plowshare Prayer | Advent Devotional Day 3

December 2nd, 2025
by Sarah Hines

Advent 2025 DevotionalCore | Peace
December 2, 2025
Written by Claire Majers

Title: Plowshare Prayer

Scripture: Isaiah 2:3-5

3 Many nations will go and say,
“Come, let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain,
to the house of Jacob’s God
so that he may teach us his ways
and we may walk in God’s paths.”
Instruction will come from Zion;
the Lord’s word from Jerusalem.

4 God will judge between the nations,
and settle disputes of mighty nations.
Then they will beat their swords into iron plows
and their spears into pruning tools.
Nation will not take up sword against nation;
they will no longer learn how to make war.
5 Come, house of Jacob,
let’s walk by the Lord’s light.

My Reflection

The scripture for today gives a baseline for what justice looks like in the kingdom of God. In God’s kingdom, justice is transformative in a way that ultimately leads to peace.

We see this reflected in our Isaiah text for today. God will judge, and peace will come. Those things that were once used to bring war and destruction will now solely have use for reconciliation and growth. No more weapons, no more war, and instead tools for gardening.

There’s a worship song called “Graves Into Gardens” by Elevation Worship. In the bridge, the words are:

You turn mourning to dancing
You give beauty for ashes
You turn shame into glory
You’re the only one who can

You turn graves into gardens
You turn bones into armies
You turn seas into highways
You’re the only one who can

A critique I have of this song is that it is practically begging for the line, “You turn swords into plowshares.” It’s the right amount of syllables and everything! It has become a thing more recently in worship music to include surprisingly violent language. The “bones into armies” line is likely a reference to Ezekiel 37, where the Ezekiel prophesies over a valley of dry bones and they are raised to life. Some translations describe the life-given bones as a “vast army” while others simply describe it as “a large company.”

My critique lies in the fact that in a song centered around the transformative power of God there is no mention of the transformative, peace-producing justice of God. What would it suggest to swap one of those lines out for one based on the Isaiah 2 text? This isn’t a bad song at all, and I encourage you to still sing it in church, as I will too! These are some things I wonder as a worship leader (at The Gathering Clayton) and student of worship.

Though our world is full of violence and destruction, this Advent I invite you to cling to the peace that comes out of God’s justice. Cling to the hope of Jesus’ birth and what it means for the world. Cling to the truth of a God who sees iron best used for tools, rather than weapons.

My Prayer:

Excerpt from Plowshare Prayer by Spencer LaJoye Spencer LaJoye - Plowshare Prayer (Live)

Dear blessed creator, dear mother, dear savior
Dear father, dear brother, dear holy other
Dear sibling, dear baby, dear patiently waiting
Dear sad & confused, dear stuck & abused
Dear end of your rope, dear worn out & broke
Dear go it alone, dear running from home
Dear righteously angry, forsaken by family
Dear jaded & quiet, dear tough & defiant

I pray that I'm heard
And I pray that this works

I pray if a prayer has been used as a sword
Against you & your heart
Against you & your word
I pray that this prayer is a plowshare of sorts
That it might break you open
It might help you grow

I pray that your body gets all that it needs
And if you don't want healing
I just pray for peace
I pray that your burden gets lighter each day

I pray you're forgiven. I pray you forgive
I pray you set boundaries & openly live
I pray that you feel you are worth never leaving
I pray that you know I will always believe you