Prayers
for Peace in a Fractured World
'The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.'
Psalm 34:18
'Unless the LORD had given me help, I would soon
have dwelt in the silence of death. When I said, "My foot is
slipping," your love, O LORD, supported me. When anxiety was
great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.'
Psalm 94:17-19
By your Word were all things created
By your Word were all things given
That all might live in your garden
Eat the fruit of the land
Drink your living water
Grow in strength and wisdom
Husband and wife
Brother and sister
Mother and child
A: God of Peace
B: Sow seeds of hope in barren lands
By your Word love was established
In the beauty of each created thing
That all might look to the mountains
And in their majesty find you.
In fertile fields and valleys
Crops and flocks would be tended
Vineyards planted
Communities grown
Laughter heard
A: God of Peace
B: Sow seeds of hope in barren lands
By your Word humankind was given
The gift of true freedom
Lived within the safety of your love
And chose independence.
By man's word are established
Ruler and slave
Rich and poor
Full and starving
Weak and strong
By man's word are established
Corruption and abuse
Oppression and torture
Selfishness and greed
Within your garden
Watered by your tears
A: God of Peace
B: Sow seeds of hope in barren lands
I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations;
I will sing of you among the peoples.
For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
(Psalm 57:9,10 NIV)
For all whose image of your creation
is marred by pain and suffering
A: Your kingdom come
B: Your will be done
For those who wake each morning
to shellfire and destruction
A: Your kingdom come
B: Your will be done
For children dispossessed of childhood
and transformed into soldiers
A: Your kingdom come
B: Your will be done
For orphans wandering lonely roads
to uncertain futures
A: Your kingdom come
B: Your will be done
For each persecuted family
carrying your Cross
A: Your kingdom come
B: Your will be done
'God blesses those who are persecuted because they
live for God,
for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.'
(Matthew 5:10 NLT)
If there is to be peace in the world,
There must be peace in the nations. If there is to be peace in the
nations,
There must be peace in the cities. If there is to be peace in the
cities,
There must be peace between neighbors. If there is to be peace between
neighbors,
There must be peace in the home. If there is to be peace in the
home,
There must be peace in the heart.
(Lao-Tse - 6th Century BCE)
God of Love, God of Peace
This fractured word
Cries out in pain
Burns deep into my soul
And challenges me
To make a difference
God of Love, God of Peace
God of this world
Scarred by grief and tears
Ignorance and fear
Soften hearts of stone
And begin with mine
God of Love, God of Peace
Create within me
A heart for people
A desire for change
For new beginnings
To start this day
'He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what
does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and
to walk humbly with your God.'
(Micah 6:8 NIV)
For those involved in conflicts
The innocent
The guilty
The injured
Orphaned
Widowed
Dead
Politicians
Peacemakers
Relief workers
For those involved in conflicts
Bring comfort
Compassion
Sustenance
Repentance
Forgiveness
Healing
Tears
Love
And a peace that can endure
If we had a fraction of the faith in you that you have in us
Then this world would be transformed, Lord.
If we showed a fraction of the love that you show to us
Then this world would be transformed, Lord
If we possessed a fraction of the patience that you display with
us
Then this world would be transformed, Lord.
If we shared just a portion of the blessings that we have received
from you
Then this world would be transformed, Lord.
If we showed as much trust in others as you have shown in us
Then this world would be transformed, Lord.
If we claimed just a fraction of the power you promised to your
Church
Then this world would be transformed, Lord.
Transform us first, Lord, that we might transform this world
Through your love and your power.
'Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.'
(James 3:18 NIV)
Bless those who are peacemakers
From all creeds and cultures
All who bring no other agenda
Than to see neighbour and stranger
Live together as one community
A: Bless the peacemakers
B: Strengthen and bless them
Bless those who are comforters
Shoulders to cry upon
A willing ear to listen
A present help in times
Of despair and hoplessness
A: Bless the comforters
B: Strengthen and bless them
Bless those who are healers
Of physical injury
And deeper hurts
Whose touch brings relief
From trauma and pain
Who brings compassion
A: Bless the healers
B: Strengthen and bless them
Prayers for peace from other sources
The following two texts are taken from the Ecumenical
Prayer Cycle on the Gulf region:
O God, who art the unsearchable abyss of peace,
the ineffable sea of love, the fountain of blessings
and the bestower of affection,
who sendest peace to those that receive it;
Open to us this day the sea of thy love
and water us with plenteous streams
from the riches of thy grace
and from the most sweet springs of thy kindness.
Make us children of quietness and heirs of peace,
enkindle in us the fire of thy love;
sow in us thy fear;
strengthen our weakness by thy power;
bind us closely to thee and to each other
in our firm and indissoluble bond of unity:
Syrian Clementine Liturgy (in:
For all God’s people; p. 73)
Litany for Iraq
For lasting peace in this ancient land
– From you, O Lord.
For wisdom and compassion for all in authority
– From you, O Lord.
For comfort for families separated or bereaved
– From you, O Lord.
For the release of captives
– From you, O Lord.
For safety and security for minority communities.
– From you, O Lord.
For refreshment for the weary and healing for the sick
– From you, O Lord.
For continuing faithfulness of the ancient churches of this land
– From you, O Lord.
For tenacity of spirit for small Christian groups
– From you, O Lord.
For the mutual enrichment and support of those of different Christian
traditions
– From you, O Lord.
You, Lord of all, we confess;
You, Lord Jesus, we glorify;
For you are the life of our bodies
And you are the Saviour of our souls.
The response in the litany and this hymn both come
from the Chaldean liturgy. The ancient hymn celebrates Christ the
source of resurrection in all situations
of death and deprivation. (in: With All God’s People, p. 21,
22)
O bless this people, Lord,
who seek their own face under the mask and can hardly recognize
it.
O bless this people that breaks its bond
And with them, all the peoples of Europe,
All the peoples of Asia,
All the peoples of America
Who sweat blood and sufferings.
And see, in the midst of these millions of waves,
The sea swell of the heads of my people.
And grant to their warm hands that they may clasp
The earth in a girdle of brotherly hands
Beneath the rainbow of thy peace.
By Leopold Sedar Senghor (a french poet and essayist,
president of Senegal, west Africa in the 1960s)
Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
(attributed to, but not by Saint
Francis of Assisi)
All prayers not otherwise attributed are written by the author
of this website
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