A Prayer for Peace in the World

God of every nation and every tongue, we have watched the news and run out of words. So we bring You the ones we have left: have mercy. Bring peace.

We pray for the places at war tonight — the cities we can name and the villages we cannot. Be near the child who falls asleep to the sound of sirens. Be near the mother in a line at a border, the father searching rubble, the soldier who is somebody's son.

Comfort all who have lost what cannot be given back: homes, harvests, neighbors, children, years. You keep count of every tear. Let none of this grief be wasted or forgotten.

Soften the hearts of those with power — presidents and generals, councils and kings. Where pride has dug in, plant humility. Where revenge feels sweet, make it taste like ashes. Give leaders the strange courage it takes to be the first to lower a weapon.

Raise up peacemakers, God — not only at treaty tables, but at kitchen tables: in families that have stopped speaking, in churches split down the middle, in neighborhoods where suspicion has moved in. Peace in the world is stitched from small forgivenesses. Teach us to sew.

And begin with us. Where we have fed an argument, quiet us. Where we have written someone off, reopen our hearts. Make each of us one less person the world has to fear.

Until the day swords are beaten into plowshares and nations learn war no more, keep us praying, keep us hoping, keep us kind.

Amen.

When to Pray This

Pray this when the headlines leave you heavy and helpless, or with others at a vigil or service. Praying for peace is not doing nothing — it is the first thing, and it often shows us the small next thing.

A Verse to Hold On To

"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." — Matthew 5:9 (KJV)