A small undersea earthquake struck just the shores of Los Angeles early this morning. It was widely felt in the West Los Angeles area. The U.S. Geological survey registered the 3.6-magnitude temblor at 2:17 a.m. PDT Monday. It was centered about four miles west of Redondo Beach at a depth of 8 miles.

I grew up in California and earthquakes were a regular event in my life. Still, as familiar as they became, they still never ceased to send a jolt of fear through me.  Several million people are stressed and on edge this morning I’m sure. Let’s pray a blessing of peace for the people of Southern California. Let’s also pray for peace in the seams of the planet, the geographic rifts where the platelets of the earth come together.

“God, the earth is yours. You have made this planet and you own and steward it your own powerful hand. We pray and ask for peace today following the earthquake in Los Angeles. We ask that you would ease the stress and fear in the millions of people who were awakened by the tremor last night. May they give their fears to you, and may you give them supernatural rest in return. We also pray that you would ease any tension building in the earth itself. We know that faultlines do build up pressure and that earthquakes are a natural result. But we ask that by your grace you would bring small releases of these pressures and that shifts in the rifts would be gentle and not destructive. May your peace dominate today, in the hearts of human beings and in the heart of the earth itself! Asyou said, Jesus when you were on the planet… ‘Peace, be Still!'”