Dear Father of all, help us to see the world through your eyes, without dividing lines, to see just land and water, mountains, trees and skies. Help us to lay aside our class and skin, our background and race, to know our shared humanity, to see a brother or sister in every face. Help us to wear forgiveness, to lay down our pride and pain, to seek first to understand, Lord may peace and reconciliation reign. Help us to feel your compassion so we can freely forgive. May we weave new threads of grace and cause seeds of hope to live. Help us to play our own small part, with acts of kindness and of care. May we arise as your children and seek out what is just and fair. Cause us to make new bonds of trust with neighbours near and far, and so to fashion a world where peace comes to Earth in this hour. Julie Palmer

God of peace and love, we humbly ask for your guidance and strength. We see the darkness of violence and hatred in the world, and feel the pain it causes. Help us to see the suffering of others and to extend compassion, even to those who seem far away. Fill our hearts with your love and understanding, so that we may become instruments of peace and reconciliation. Give us the courage to speak out against injustice and to stand for what is right. May your light shine brightly in the world, banishing the darkness of hatred and violence, and may peace and love prevail. We pray this in your name. Amen.

About once a year, I suggest this prayer of St Francis of Assisi as our Prayer for Peace for the week.  If you would like, here is a version on You Tube which you may like to listen to the prayer sung below.  I have recommended this version before.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is error, the truth;
where there is doubt, the faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.

Today our Prayer for Peace was written by His Holiness Pope Francis, who sadly passed away a few days ago on 21^st April.

Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!

We have tried so many times and over so many years to resolve our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our arms. How many moments of hostility and darkness have we experienced; how much blood has been shed; how many lives have been shattered; how many hopes have been buried… But our efforts have been in vain.

Now, Lord, come to our aid! Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace. Open our eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say: “Never again war!”; “With war everything is lost”. Instill in our hearts the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace.

Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love, you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters. Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister. Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarreling into forgiveness.

Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience and perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation. In this way may peace triumph at last, and may the words “division”, “hatred” and “war” be banished from the heart of every man and woman. Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands. Renew our hearts and minds, so that the word which always brings us together will be “brother”, and our way of life will always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam!

Amen.

Light a candle, as a visible sign of the light of Christ, who is the light of the world.

Take a deep breath. Feel the breath of God that has given you life.

Centre yourself and pray…

We pray for all whose lives 
have been touched by tragedy,
whether by accident
or a deliberate act.
For those who mourn,
immerse them in your love
and lead them through this darkness
into your arms, and light.
For those who comfort,
be in both the words they use
and all that’s left unspoken;
fill each heart with love.
We ask this through Jesus Christ,
whose own suffering brought us life,
here and for eternity. Amen

©John Birch

Here is a prayer guide for you to use in your Prayer for Peace this week.

We will be praying for those in power

—————————————————————————————————–

Who are the decision makers that can impact the story to bring peace? Pray for mercy, compassion and wisdom as they deal with the situation, and pray that they would be governed by love and the desire for peace instead of hatred and fear.

For politicians, both for the leaders in the nations that are directly affected by the conflict and for the leaders of nations who can affect the outcome.

For peacemakers working to bring resolution between forces.

For the powerful businesses and stakeholders who have the ability to change the course of the conflict.

For the media, both the journalists risking their lives to report on the situation and the media companies that are choosing what wars and conflicts to cover.

Light a candle, as a visible sign of the light of Christ, who is the light of the

world.

Take a deep breath. Feel the breath of God that has given you life.

Centre yourself and pray…

For those who are

fleeing: sanctuary

For those who are

staying: safety

For those who are

fighting: peace

For those whose hearts are

breaking: comfort

For those who see no future:

hope

(Poor Clares Galway)

We are moulded, each one of us,
in the image of God,
and within our souls there is a fingerprint
none can erase.
We pray for those who have no regard
for anyone but self,
who put no value on human life.
For nations and individuals who abuse and kill.
We are not called to be judge or jury,
but we are called to be agents of change,
and if the butterfly that flaps its wings
should be our attitude to others
then so be it, Lord,
and may the hurricane this generates
somewhere within the world
reach into the hearts and souls of those
for whom we pray, and reveal to them
how precious are those
for whom they have no love,
and how precious are they
who now bring tears to the eyes of God.

©John Birch

This week, our Prayer for Peace is a Poem written by David Roberts in 1999.

There Will Be Peace

​There will be peace:

When attitudes change; 
when self-interest is seen as part of common interest; 
when old wrongs, old scores, old mistakes 
are deleted from the account; 
when the aim becomes co-operation and mutual benefit 
rather than revenge or seizing maximum personal or group gain; 
when justice and equality before the law 
become the basis of government; 
when basic freedoms exist; 
when leaders – political, religious, educational – and the police and media 
wholeheartedly embrace the concepts of justice, equality, freedom, tolerance, and reconciliation as a basis for renewal; 
when parents teach their children new ways to think about people.

There will be peace: 
when enemies become fellow human beings.

God of many names, lover of all peoples 

we pray for peace in our nations and in our world. 

 We pray for all who have the awesome responsibility  

of power and decision-making. 

 We pray for the innocent victims of violence and war. 

Lead us and all peoples of the world 

from death to life, from falsehood to truth. 

Lead us from despair to hope, from fear to trust. 

Lead us from hate to love, from war to peace. 

Let peace with justice fill our hearts, 

our world, our universe.  AMEN

(Christchurch Cathedral)