Prayer for Peace

Pearl King Edwards

Holy Mystery
whose being is grace and love
We celebrate your presence among us;
We repent for walking the selfish road;
We sing and dance your peace into being

Creator
Fill our hearts with your love for all peoples
for those who suffer violence
for those who perpetrate violence.
Direct our prayers into shouts of indignation
that it should not be this way.

Redeemer
Open our eyes and ears to see and hear hunger, disease, just wants and needs
Guide our feet to actions that protest suffering and injustice anywhere;
Guide our hands to incarnate your peace and joy for those who suffer.

Spirit
who is the cosmic breath holding the universe in place
who is the silent cry of life amid suffering
who erupts as liberating power among God’s people

Grace
divine indwelling of seed time and harvest
divine flame of love and light amidst our darkness

Wisdom
who leads to the river of life
who will wipe away all tears
gather us into your kingdom of peace.

Holy Mystery
Hear our prayers for all your beloved.
Bless our worship into the shalom of the Prince of Peace.
May it be so.

Prayer for Peace

Eula Stoynoff

Our God and Creator,

We come humbly with thankful hearts, gratefully acknowledging your blessings and your love.

As we sit peacefully in the safety of this place, forgive us if we have become self-satisfied and indifferent to the sufferings and despair in our world.

Bring us back to the reality of purpose to become a people of peace, reaching out with love and compassion.

May this prayer be joined with those other prayers throughout the world, bringing people and nations together for peace.

As the flame of the peace candle brightly burns, so may the spirit of peace and love be rekindled in the hearts of all people seeking peace.

May your spirit continue to guide us to that “perfect peace,” we pray in the name of the prince of peace. Amen.

Prayer for Peace

Frances Jones

Almighty God and Creator of All,
We come here to honor and praise you for your never-ending love and patience. Let there be a love of peace so strong in your children gathered here that it will sweep across nations and touch each of your children. We pray that your influence will give us a desire for study and unselfish living with one another.

Let the Temple be the physical means by which people can come to learn what they can do to influence others toward peace. Together, with your help, we will accomplish the goal of peace you have set before us. Encourage our faithfulness, kindness, and self-control, to influence and contribute to being your peacemakers. Help us so that we will be more loving and will let your Holy Spirit control our thoughts and actions.

In Jesus Christ’s name. Amen.

Prayer for Peace

Kenneth McLaughlin

O God, Whose Essence is Peace,

We have been taught the Gospel of Luke, wherein Jesus proclaimed
that the peacemakers of every generation are a blessed people, and that they shall
all rightfully be called children of God.

Today we pray for peace throughout the world—from the heights of the mountains
to the depths of the sea. A peace for all you have created. A selfless peace. An
equitable peace. A saving peace.

But our prayers, however earnest, are not enough. Praying for peace is vain unless
we respond by working for peace. Working for justice. Rolling up our sleeves and
doing the hard work that is never completed. Feeding. Clothing. Housing. Healing.
Nurturing. Teaching. Meditating. Protesting. Cradling. Negotiating. It takes all of us. All our skills, time, energy, courage, and desire—regardless of age, gender, faith, color,
culture, personal identity. All of us. All the time.

Peacemaking, O God, leaves us weary unless we receive the sacred balm of your
grace. We need you every hour. And you need us.

We are honored to be called to the task. And in humility we recognize that in return,
we are called your precious children.

We pray in the name of the one who lived and taught your peace, Jesus the Christ.

Amen.

Prayer for Peace

William Webb

Gracious God and prince of peace,

We look to you now as we give you praise and honor and glory.

We ask for your help in our quest for peace. We are prone to self-centered satisfaction. Help us to look beyond ourselves to find those service opportunities that will reflect your love and bring your kingdom nearer.

Help each of us to find the path to peace. As we walk in the paths of peace, let the hope for peace burn brightly in each heart. Help us take those steps toward peace that make your peace a reality in each of us.

O God, we now remember those in need. There are so many who are spiritually separated from you. Help us find ways of filling this void so those who need you so desperately will feel your nearness and comfort. May they also find fulfillment in the hope of peace that comes from your ways. May they find the means and the desire to change those things in their lives that cause separation from you and others.

So many in physical need. We also remember those and present them for your blessing of healing, strength, and wholeness. May your will be done.

God of peace, help each of us here today follow the example of your son to bring needed ministry to those in need. Be with our families so that they may learn the ways of peace and cooperation are also the ways of love. Help each of us find the fulfillment that comes to us as we live out the ways of peace and apply love, meekness, and purity in all that we do.

Help us be peacemakers who bring joy and happiness to our families and our communities. Help us share your message of love, forgiveness, and peace with all the families of the world so that your will may prevail, and your kingdom may come.

We give you honor, praise, and glory. We ask this in Jesus’s name. Amen.

Prayer for Peace

Bruce Lindgren

O God of Peace,
We gather today to share our concerns for peace in the world you have created. Your kind and loving Spirit has richly blessed us, and we know that we have possessions and comforts beyond the imagining of many of the people in your world. At the same time, we are restless, knowing that true peace and true comfort come only from you.

Help us, O God, to hear the cries of the unfortunate and the oppressed. May we seek to understand them as your son, Jesus, would. Help us to understand the lack of peace within ourselves and within those we meet. Help us to bring peace to each other. Help us to understand those who live in fear. Help us to find ways to share your peace with those who are far from us as well as those who are close by.

Teach us, O God, to be instruments of your peace. Encourage us to be close to one another and closer to you. In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen.

Prayer for Peace

Janné Grover

God of the cross and of the empty grave,

Words of praise leap off our tongues as we celebrate the joy of Easter. The story is so familiar, yet we rejoice anew because we once again find hope in the resurrection promise of new life.

God of redemption,

Forgive us for clinging to the idolatry of our personal salvation. Forgive our complacency when we narrowly focus our thoughts and energy around self-centered grace and self-absorbed spirituality. Your love for this complex and troubled yet amazingly diverse and beautiful world is beyond the limit of comprehension. Your love is inclusive and offered unreservedly to all your beloved children. Forgive us when we construct limits to your love as we exploit our differences, cling to our prejudices, and bask in self-righteousness rather than celebrating diversity and growing in a shared and sacred community.

God of abundant grace,

Our hearts swell with gratitude, and we want to live our praise out loud. Move us from judgment and complacency to joyful service and unconditional acceptance of others. Inspire our thoughts and engage our minds, our hands, our feet, and our voices to proclaim and to live the good news that he who was dead is alive again. Help us embody your unbounded love and reflect your ever-living presence in our lives and in our world.

God of all living,

We long for your peace that will be realized when all life has been made whole, when humankind cares about a just and equitable distribution of Earth’s resources, and when each one is touched by your love and moved beyond self to service. We ask this for the sake of the world you so loved that you sent your son, Jesus, so the world through him might be saved. In the name of Jesus, who lived, died, and rose again, we pray. Amen.

Prayer for Peace

Pam Robison

God of vision,

Open our eyes to see the beauty you have created—beauty of nature, beauty of humanity.

But also open our eyes to see the harshness and pain that exists—destruction we have caused…walls we have built…wounds we have given.

We must name this pain…cruelty…destruction…so it can be brought into the light of your healing love. We must claim our part in its creation to take responsibility for working to alleviate it.

Seeing as you see is not easy. We would much rather keep our eyes closed, leaving the world as it is.
Here, though—in this place and time—you call us to change…to walk through the world in your presence with open eyes—bringing healing and wholeness.

Give us strength…give us courage…to follow in the footsteps of our older brother in whose name we pray.

Amen.

Prayer for Peace

Fred W. Winterton

Our Loving Parent,

We are thankful for our access to you through the grace and reconciliation of your son, Jesus Christ. We thank you for the assurance of your continuing love and concern for us through the many trials and difficulties of our lives.

As we come to you seeking peace in our troubled world, we are mindful of our many acts of inhumanity to one another, through which fear, insecurity, poverty, and brokenness have become much of our human experience. We acknowledge these as symptoms of deeper emotional causes—as extensions of our inner conflicts.

We recognize the need for repentance at personal and corporate levels, where we have often ignored the principles of relationships you have ordained for our happiness. We further recognize that in petitioning you for peace, we have no rightful claim on your mediation in our troubles while we persist in denying other persons the rights of freedom, acceptance, equality, and social justice we jealously guard for ourselves and which underline many of our problems.

Our prayer is not that you will offset the just consequences of our sinful ways but that you will open our eyes to the more peaceful pursuits of life and engender in our hearts a more compassionate attitude toward the needs of those who are oppressed by circumstances beyond their control.

Assist also those in government roles throughout the world in affecting the necessary reforms in political, economic, and social affairs that will lessen the tensions of war and hostility and establish a world community based on respect for the rights of all.

Moreover, may the peaceable presence of your Holy Spirit rule in our lives so that we will be living emissaries of peace for you in all their dimensions and interactions.

This we ask in the name of your son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Prayer for Peace

Darlene Caswell

Our Gracious Lord and Friend,

We seek you in the silence because you speak to our hearts.

We seek you in your magnificent world because we have so much
to learn.

We seek you through all people, because we need to discover
the ways of peace.

We seek you in our work, because you call us to serve.

Accept our praise for your gracious goodness.

Bless our best desires and yearnings for peace as we are
guided to discover your ways.

We pray in the spirit of the prince of peace. Amen.