Today in our prayers for the people of Armenia.

Prayer for Peace

Lorna Condit

Most loving God, source of mercy and grace, we come seeking peace—in our hearts and minds, in our families and communities, in our world. We come humbly, acknowledging our shortcomings as peacemakers, yet trusting in the ultimate promise of peace through your transforming grace.

Awesome creator, we are grateful for the diversity with which you have gifted us. You have created us with a vast array of talents and interests, hopes and dreams. Our differences are a precious resource. Yet we know, Lord, how often we allow our differences to become division. Too often, we react to difference with fear rather than gratitude. Help us, Lord, recognize the beauty in each person and revere your wisdom in creating us with such diversity. Help us learn to love one another in all our uniqueness and to cherish unity without sameness.

Gentle healer, we recognize the many people in our world who are broken, some so shattered by emotional or physical violence that it seems impossible they could ever be made whole. Yet we trust in the healing and transforming power of your Spirit. Help us act as your heart, hands, and feet, manifesting your healing spirit in the world. Guide us in reaching out to the lost and lonely who need to be restored to loving community. Grant us words of compassion as we meet those who need to hear of your love and the wisdom of silence as we encounter those who need to be heard.

Lord of mercy, we ask your forgiveness for those times when our words or actions have wounded, when we have forgotten our calling as peacemakers. Do not let us be ruled by pride or pain or anger so that we can neither seek nor accept reconciliation within our relationships.

Instead, bless us with the humility to seek forgiveness and the courage to forgive. And may this attitude of humility extend beyond our relationships. Forgive us, Lord, for our failures to love and embrace your entire creation. Instead, help us cherish all of your creation and treat it with reverence. With this prayer, Lord, we commit ourselves to serving as instruments of your peace. Amen.