Christmas Peace Prayer

(from Worship Now)

O God, we thank you for the message of peace
that Christmas brings to our distracted world.
Give peace among nations,
peace in our land,
peace in our homes,
and peace in our hearts,
as we remember the birth at Bethlehem
of the Prince of peace,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

For Peace in the Middle-East

(Rev. Said)

God of mercy and compassion,
of grace and reconciliation,
pour your power upon all your children
in the Middle East:
Jews, Muslims and Christians,
Palestinians and Israelis.
Let hatred be turned into love,
fear to trust,
despair to hope,
oppression to freedom,
occupation to liberation,
that violent encounters be replaced
by loving embraces,
and peace and justice be experienced by all.

Amen.

For the Beauty of God’s Peace

(John Greenleaf Whittier)

Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways;
Reclothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives Thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise.

Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.

Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and Thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still, small voice of calm.

Amen.

Native American Prayer for Peace

O Great Spirit of our Ancestors, I raise my pipe to you.
To your messengers the four winds,
and to Mother Earth who provides for your children.

Give us the wisdom to teach our children
to love, to respect, and to be kind to each other
so that they may grow with peace in mind.

Let us learn to share all the good things
that you provide for us on this Earth.

Amen.

O God, We Are One With You

(Thomas Merton 1915-1968)

O God, we are one with you.
You have made us one with you.
You have taught us that if we are open to one another,
you dwell in us.
Help us to preserve this openness
and to fight for it with all our hearts.
Help us to realize that there can be no understanding
where there is mutual rejection.

O God, in accepting one another
wholeheartedly, fully, completely,
we accept you,
and we thank you,
and we adore you,
and we love you with our whole being,
because our being is your being,
our spirit is rooted in your spirit.

Fill us then with love,
and let us be bound together with love
as we go our diverse ways,
united in this one spirit
which makes you present in the world,
and which makes you witness to
the ultimate reality that is love.

Love has overcome.
Love is victorious.

Amen.

Prayer for Peace

(Satish Kumar)

O, Lord
Lead me from Death to Life,
from Falsehood to Truth.
Lead me from Despair to Hope,
from Fear to Trust.
Lead me from Hate to Love,
from War to Peace.
Let Peace fill our Hearts,
our World, our Universe.

Amen.

Prayer for Peace and Justice

Lord,
lead us from death to life,
from falsehood to truth.
Lead us from despair to hope,
from fear to trust.
Let peace fill our hearts, our world and our universe.
Let us dream together, pray together and work together,
to build one world of peace and justice for all. Amen.

Sufi Prayer for Peace

O Almighty Sun, whose light clears away all clouds,
We take refuge in you.
Guide of all people, God of all deities, Lord of all angels,
We pray you to dispel the mists of illusion from the hearts of the nations
And lift their lives by your all-sufficient power,
Your ever shining light, your everlasting life,
Your heavenly joy and your perfect peace.

Amen.