Today in our prayers for the people of Guatemala.

Prayer for Peace

Janné C. Grover

God of shalom,

Yours is the peace we proclaim, the peace we long for, and the peace that is realized when justice is our common purpose through Christ. The peace for which we strive is your kingdom, the kingdom that was present in Jesus. It is an upside-down kingdom where servanthood replaces political posturing, where “us” and “them” become “we,” where human worth is, and where creation is liberated from human greed.

We confess our complacency and complicity that keep true and lasting peace in fragile infancy at best. Forgive our resistance to confronting assumptions, biases, and prejudices that perpetuate racism and systems of injustice.

We know that if we proclaim the peace of Jesus Christ, then we must challenge the kingdoms of this world that promote fear, division, greed, violence, and needless suffering. Even as we pray for peace, we confess our unwillingness to courageously challenge cultural, political, and religious trends that are contrary to your reconciling and restoring purposes. Help us realize the transforming power of your shalom if we seek it with the intention of looking deeply into who we are, and allow it to shape who we are called to be.

Disrupt our comfortable sense of “us-ness.” Grant us the courage to open the borders of our hearts and welcome the “other,” and recognize Christ in the faces of all your beloved children. Help us walk through this world awakened to what it means to belong to each other…to belong to your kingdom of shalom.

May our prayers for peace disrupt our status quo and lead us into actions of reconciliation, restoration, and justice for the sake of all the world you so dearly love.

We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, who is our peace. Amen.