Prayer of repentance
Even in the small schemes of our lives
there are times when we come upon the big mess
which we may or may not have caused.
The challenges given, the first shots fired,
volleys of words thrown like grenades,
the bodies prone, the revenge promised …
war even on the tiniest scale wreaks havoc
and rejects consolation through the years.
The fog of war never completely lifts
but the casualties are completely clear.
Trust and innocence blown to smithereens,
hope sidelined in the trenches
with bitterness like a rat
gnawing on grudges.
Jesus, make it stop.
Give us imagination
to see relationships restored
forgiveness offered
good will renewed;
give us vision to see this battlefield transformed.
We long for a field of winter wheat
green after the fiercest season,
friends embracing enemies,
an armistice to the cold war –
a white flag in the spring of peace.
Copyright Carol Penner
www.leadinginworship.com
Prayer against violence, a prayer for peace
Perfect love casts out fear
and so today we pray for your spirit of love on our world.
Cast out the strapping of bombs to bodies.
Cast out the explosion of bombs in crowded places.
Cast out the tricking of children to carry bombs.
Cast out the desperation that leads people to terrorist acts.
Cast out the making of walls that divide and imprison us.
Cast out the firing of missiles and the bulldozing of homes.
Cast out the prejudice against people of a certain race or culture.
Cast out the political structures that perpetuate violence.
Cast out the hatred that produces fear.
Send down the courage to reach out in peace.
Send down the resolution to not return evil for evil.
Send down the creativity to find peaceful political solutions.
Send down the wisdom that politicians and diplomats need.
Send down the commitment to work together to end terrorism.
Send down the power of nonviolence to create change.
Send down the comfort and justice that victims need.
Send down the love that will end our fear.
We ask these things in the name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace.
Amen.
Copyright Carol Penner
www.leadinginworship.com
Kyrie for the city
At times we turn away
from the poverty we see,
from the jingle of change in cups,
God, have mercy.
At times we have no tears
when another youth is shot,
God, have mercy.
At times we long for an open
field
and clear brook, instead of hard pavement
and tall buildings.
God, have mercy.
At times we long for silence,
as the sirens ring and trains clatter.
God, have mercy.
Grant us all we need
to seek the peace of this city, Oh God.
Amen.
Written by Celeste Kennel -Shank, assistant editor of
Mennonite Weekly Review and a member of Chicago
Community Mennonite Church.
http://peace.mennolink.org/prayersforpeace.html
War tax prayer
Dear God,
With the shock and awe of war taking up residence in our minds
And the logic of redemptive violence clouding our vision
We pray, we hope, we long for peace.
With feet firmly planted on fertile lands taken from native peoples
in a nation built by the labor of slaves
We pray, we hope, we long for justice.
With our tax dollars dutifully lined up to
Buy warheads tipped with depleted uranium
And guided missiles launched from unmanned drones
We pray, we hope, we long for peace.
God, in your mercy, save us from spineless resignation
To the empire of domination and greed.
Guide our feet, our hands and our dollars to do works
Of justice, peace and restoration.
God of Easter morning
Awaken the fire of justice in our bones
And the vision of a peaceable community in our eyes
So that your will may be done on earth as it is in heaven.
We pray, we hope, we long for resurrection!
Amen.
Written by Titus M. Peachey, Coordinator for Peace Education
Mennonite Central Committee
http://peace.mennolink.org/prayersforpeace.html
Prayer for peace
God, who calms the wind and seas,
whose ways are higher than our ways,
and whose thoughts are higher than our thoughts,
Only you can calm the raging of the nations,
the impulse for war,
the eagerness to destroy another
in defense of our own interests.
Only you can take hearts of stone
and turn them into hearts of flesh.
And so we beg you to thwart the ways of policymakers
who rush to war.
Replace their desire for war with a desire for justice and for peace.
Give us the courage to be messengers in word and deed of your
good news, to announce your reign to all peoples and nations,
to Congress and to our communities.
Hear the cries of those who suffer as a result of war
civilians, soldiers, veterans, family members,
those whose schools and homes have been destroyed,
those whose souls have been torn apart.
Have mercy on them, O Lord.
May all of us together go out in joy and be led forth in peace,
people hand-in-hand with people, nations together with nations.
Amen.
Written by Rachelle Lyndaker Schlabach
Director, Washington
Office, Mennonite Central Committee U.S.
http://peace.mennolink.org/prayersforpeace.html
Prayer for peace
God of the Universe, we come asking your
healing for those who have experienced the nightmares of war
for those who have taken life
and for those who are forced
to live with war daily
for those who cannot forgive themselves for what they have done
and for those who cannot forgive what has been done
to their Iraqi homeland
for those who suffer nightmares from what they
have done and for those who suffer night terrors from war
for the children who live daily in the turmoil of war
and for those who have suffered injury to their mind and
soul as well as physical injury.
God, help us be the healing hand of Christ as we minister to those who come
home broken from the war.
May we share with them the peace that Christ has to offer.
May we be open to hear their stories and receive their pain.
May we share the healing Christ to those with injured minds and souls.
God, the Great Physician, help us not to forget the many Iraqis who suffer from
the consequences of war.
May you heal both their bodies and souls.
God, we give thanks for your marvelous loving and forgiving nature
when we, as human beings, have failed you.
We ask for your continued love and mercy. We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Iris de León Hartshorn is director of Transformative Peacemaking for Mennonite Church
USA.
http://peace.mennolink.org/prayersforpeace.html
God of peace, listen to our lament
God, the world in the Middle East is broken
And looks like it is falling apart.
The war, a beast with massive power,
Continues his destructive pace.
Children, women and elders cry, hopeless,
Their tears falling on the desert’s ground and disappearing.
There is no place to stand in hope.
God, do you hear their lament?
They are in despair, their anguish is evident.
God, do you feel their pain?
The desolation outside is a deep reality inside for them,
Because dehumanizing forces of war
Viciously promote hate and rejection.
Are you absent? They don’t see you.
What they see is the face of the death.
Nevertheless, our faith tells us that you are kind and generous.
You are our God of peace.
We know you always hear the laments of the poor
And feel the pain of people suffering.
And, yes, you always are present!
Say the Word and stop the evil!
Affirm your peace; bring back the joy of life for them!
Lord, help us to hear with your ears and to feel with your heart.
Transform and move our souls to love our enemies.
Claim us for yourself
And raise the flag of your love in us.
Then we will have the strength of our commitment
To spread the heavenly gift of peace,
To challenge the powers,
To proclaim the justice of your kingdom.
In the name of Jesus, our Lord, we pray.
Amen.
Gilberto Flores
Associate conference minister at Western District Conference
