In this world where conflicts flare up so easily, help me be a beacon of Your peace. When tensions rise and harsh words tempt my tongue, remind me of Your gentle ways. Give me the courage to extend olive branches instead of building walls.
Open my ears to truly listen, Lord, and guide my words to speak with love. When others push my buttons, help me respond with grace. In moments of disagreement, let me see Your image in those I struggle to understand.
Thank You for Your peace through Jesus. Help me follow His example and build bridges of understanding.
Dear God, the world seems so dark and foreboding. Where are the signs of hope? What are you calling us to do? Wars, uprisings, displacements, hunger, poverty, and disease continue to claim victims by the millions around the world each year. Our ears do not want to hear their stories and our eyes do not want to see their plight because the suffering and destruction is so massive and cruel. In our hearts and minds there is a desire to help somehow, but the crisis seem so overwhelming that we shake our heads in dismay and we wonder what the point is for us even to attempt to be witnesses for healing and hope in this hellish morass. We beg with the song writer to open our eyes that we may see glimpses of truth you have for us. Help us to follow the path of Jesus, the Suffering Servant. Give us the courage to be willing to walk the path of depression and pain with the victims of injustice here at home as well as abroad. Help us to seek ways to light candles of hope, however small, through our words, our deeds, and our prayers, to encourage our sisters and brothers to hold onto the faith in spite of the pain and suffering they are facing. And help those of us who are among the fortunate ones, who have enough bread to eat, good health, and who live in relative peace, to open our heart to learn from our sisters and brothers who are living lives of grace and forgiveness in the horrid circumstances which surround them. O God, help us to light one candle rather than to curse the darkness. We pray this in the name of Jesus, who knows what being a light in this dark world is all about.
– Larry Kehler, Mennonite Central Committee, Canada
Open our hearts and minds Lord to see as you do and the courage to act as you would.
For Courage to Do Justice
O Lord, open my eyes that I may see the needs of others, Open my ears that I may hear their cries; Open my heart so that they need not be without succor; Let me not be afraid to defend the weak because of the anger of the strong, Nor afraid to defend the poor because of the anger of the rich. Show me where love and hope and faith are needed, And use me to bring them to those places. And so open my eyes and my ears, That I may this coming day be able to do some work of peace for thee.
Each of us was created with a unique destiny as God designed, to bring peace and justice to the world. Let’s pray this prayer for world peace cooperating in our destiny according to His plan. Thy will be done!
A Prayer for World Peace
We pray for the power to be gentle; the strength to be forgiving; the patience to be understanding; and the endurance to accept the consequences of holding on to what we believe to be right.
May we put our trust in the power of good to overcome evil and the power of love to overcome hatred.
We pray for the vision to see and the faith to believe in a world emancipated from violence, a new world where fear shall no longer lead men or women to commit injustice, nor selfishness make them bring suffering to others.
Help us to devote our whole life and thought and energy to the task of making peace, praying always for the inspiration and the power to fulfill the destiny for which we and all men and women were created.
Let’s pray that God reveals his peaceful heart to us today and we can see justice through His eyes revealing the precious nature of each soul.
A Prayer for Peace
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.
Lets pray for a culture of nonviolence and a society where our needs are met and our desires are right ordered. This prayer by the late Benedictine Sr. Mary Lou Kownacki, a poet and peace activist, provides words of hope and inspiration for us all.
Prayer for the Decade of Nonviolence
I bow to the sacred in all creation. May my spirit fill the world with beauty and wonder. May my mind seek truth with humility and openness. May my heart forgive without limit. May my love for friend, enemy, and outcast be without measure. May my needs be few and my living simple. May my actions bear witness to the suffering of others. May my hands never harm a living being. May my steps stay on the journey of justice. May my tongue speak for those who are poor without fear of the powerful. May my prayers rise with patient discontent until no child is hungry. May my life’s work be a passion for peace and nonviolence. May my soul rejoice in the present moment. May my imagination overcome death and despair with new possibilities. And may I risk reputation, comfort, and security to bring this hope to the children.
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.
Prayer for Peace
On This Day….
Mend a quarrel Search out a forgotten friend Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust Write a love letter Share some treasures Give a soft answer Encourage youth
Manifest your loyalty in a word or deed Keep a promise Find the time Forego a grudge Forgive an enemy Listen Apologize if you were wrong
Try to understand Flout envy Examine your demands on others Think first of someone else Appreciate, be kind, be gentle Laugh a little more. Deserve confidence
Take up arms against malice Decry complacency Express your gratitude Worship your God Gladden the heart of a child Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth
Speak your love Speak it again Speak it still again Speak it still once again….
Do you need a boost of faith? I think we all do. Faith is the key that puts every other truth into its proper place. Triumphs become opportunities for gratitude instead of pride. Tragedies become opportunities for growth instead of despair. Life just makes more sense and our faith in God gives us joy even when we face what can feel like insurmountable trials. We all need healing and miracles in our lives. Let’s pray:
Padre Pio’s Prayer for Trust and Confidence:
O Lord, we ask for a boundless confidence and trust in Your divine mercy, and the courage to accept the crosses and sufferings which bring immense goodness to our souls and that of Your Church.
Help us to love You with a pure and contrite heart, and to humble ourselves beneath Your cross, as we climb the mountain of holiness, carrying our cross that leads to heavenly glory.
May we receive You with great faith and love in Holy Communion, and allow You to act in us as You desire for your greater glory.
O Jesus, most adorable Heart and eternal fountain of Divine Love, may our prayer find favor before the Divine Majesty of Your heavenly Father.
Come Holy Spirit, light a fire in the hearts of your people. Help our faithlessness turn into faithfulness allowing us to be more like you. Your faithfulness is never ending. I pray for all your people who have lost hope, or who need the seed of faith you planted in their heart to grow big and wild like a mustard seed. I’m standing in the gap for them today. Amen.
In a world with so much suffering it is only in true surrender to God that we can accept the gift of peace. Surrender is not a destination, a place where we arrive at some point but a life practice. A practice where we explore the places in our life and ultimately our heart and have the realization we need God. In the constant lifting of the veil of my heart, I invite God in to take the lead in those areas I’ve protected and kept to myself. As I fall more deeply in love with the King of the Universe, I surrender in love through love.
There is a prayer by St Ignatius of Loyola that we can pray often to help us on our way.
Suspice
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
My memory, my understanding, and my entire will.
All I have and call my own.
You have given all to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.
Everything is yours; dispose a bit, holy, according to your will.
As our world seems to descend into greater darkness, we can be confident that our Advocate and Savior is with us and that He is “the light that shines in darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).
Litany of Light
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us. God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us. God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us. Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.
Christ, Light of the World, hear us. Holy Mother of God, pray for us. Mother of the New Dawn, pray for us.
Holy Trinity, source of all light, illuminate the darkness in our world: To the minds of those dimmed by sin, bring your light. To the hearts of those gripped by pornography, bring your light. To those suffering depression or mental illness, bring your light. To the souls enslaved by substance abuse, bring your light. To those burdened by same-sex attraction, bring your light. To those gripped by anxiety and fear, bring your light. To the hearts of those who mourn, bring your light. To the souls and bodies of abusers and the abused, bring your light. To those with no place to call home, bring your light. To those intent on killing in the name of God, bring your light. To abortion clinics, bring your light. To brothels and human-trafficking locations, bring your light. To hospitals, pharmacies and nursing homes, bring your light. To classrooms of despair, confusion and falsehood, bring your light. To violent and drug-infested streets, bring your light. To war-torn territories, bring your light. To lands darkened, flooded, or destroyed by natural disasters, bring your light. Wherever there is confusion, despair, loneliness and anger, bring your light.
St. Joseph, pray for us. St. Mary Magdalene, pray for us. St. Lucy, pray for us. St. Augustine, pray for us. St. Hildegard of Bingen, pray for us. St. Claire, pray for us. St. Albert the Great, pray for us. St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us. St. Bonaventure, pray for us. All the Choirs of Angels, pray for us. Mary, Light in the Darkness, pray for us.
Light of the World, who take away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord. Light of the World, who take away the sins of the world graciously hear us, O Lord.
Light of the World, who take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Smitten With Goodness 