Prayers For Peace

My friend Jean Allen Davis recently shared these two beautiful prayers from an out-of-print pamphlet written by The Rev. Alan Houghton. On this 13th anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attack in the United States, the threats to world peace are ever-present and frightening. I call on everyone, whatever your religious affiliation, to lift up the peoples and leaders of the world for wisdom and peace.

O God of peace, my thoughts and prayers and hopes are with those the world over who are “in charge.” Please guide them as they make the decisions which affect us all. During their lonely times, shine through their darkness. During their moments of deliberation, be their example and their guide. During their moments of elation and despair, certainty and uncertainty, be their conscience, their strength, their companion, and their friend.

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Lord, I pray for troubled people and troubled places the world over, friend and foe alike. I pray for the proud and the self-righteous, the amoral, the ignorant, the untruthful, the mean. I pray for victims of their violence and prejudice, their hate and their neglect. I pray for a patience and a judgment which can see beyond today’s crises. I pray for more integrity and courage and leadership and fairness in the private and public and political arenas. I pray we’ll learn to respect everyone’s rights, focusing more on “what’s right” than on “who’s right.” I pray we’ll remember those who fight our wars and those who struggle so hard to keep the peace. I pray that those who invoke your name will try a whole lot harder to play by your rules. I pray for peace. I pray for peace abroad. I pray for peace at home. I pray for more sensitive and sensible acts. I pray for more courageous and fair and less self-absorbed leaders. I pray for peace.

Photo credit: “Meditation for Earth” by Elenarts via Dollar Photo Club