Prayers for people in places in conflict

 

We pray for God’s justice in the world; only with God’s justice can there be God’s peace, the peace that passes understanding.

Here is a prayer shared with us by a Palestinian Christian:

Oh Lord, our refuge and strength,
particularly in times of trouble
rekindle our hope amidst all the hatred, violence, death and destruction.
The night is dark and heavy,
but you are our light amidst our hopelessness and misery.
Help us to offer this light to others,
to dissipate this increasing darkness.
Hold us in your hands, Lord; have mercy on us and grant us peace.
Amen.

 And a prayer for the Holy Land, from Sam Wells, the vicar of St Martin in the Fields:
 Broken hearted God,
Your ways are ways of gentleness and all your paths are peace.
Speak to the hearts of those intent on hatred and extermination.
Open the borders , that aid may reach the most desperate.
Visit the hungry, thirsty, injured and terrified with the transforming grace of your Holy Spirit.
Uphold all who experience horror and fear worse to come.
Empower the International Community, that it may bring reason and understanding to all amid grief and loss.
Make of this crisis a moment of truth, that in devastation, people may resolve on a different path,
       and in despair people may find a new hope.
Change the Souls of us all that we might see, through our enemy, our only way to you in Christ, who was broken that we might be made whole.
Amen.

And a prayer for Ukraine, also from Sam Wells.

O God of peace, your prophet Isaiah promised
Swords would be turned into ploughshares,
And your son’s mother proclaimed
The mighty would be put down, and the humble exalted.
Visit the people of Ukraine, deliver them from fear, violence,
Attack, injury, destruction, death,
And give them courage, solidarity and allies
In their hour of vulnerability and sorrow.
Turn the hearts of those bent on war and invasion.
Strengthen the hands of all seeking to halt conflict,
Restore order, pursue justice,
And make this moment of peril an occasion for your Holy Spirit to
To show your world the cost of conflict and our dependence on one another
In Christ our Lord, who went to his death because of our hatred and rose
Because our hatred is never stronger than your indomitable love.
Amen

Pray too for Christians in oppressive regimes; that the power of the Holy Spirit may be on them to bring what spiritual sustenance and comfort they need. May the spirit come like the oxygen which blows the glowing embers into a bright light, and may each light join with others so that the darkness is banished.

Here is a prayer written by Pope John Paul when he was still a Bishop in Poland under the communist regime:

TO YOU, CREATOR OF NATURE AND HUMANITY, OF TRUTH AND BEAUTY, I PRAY
Hear My voice,
for it is the voice of the victim of all wars and violence among individuals and Nations.
Hear my voice,
for it is the voice of all children who suffer and will suffer when people put their faith in weapons and war.
Hear my voice,
for it is my voice when I beg you to instil into the hearts of all human beings the wisdom of peace, the strength of justice and the joy of fellowship.
Hear my voice,
for I speak for the multitudes in every country and in every period of history who do not want war and are ready to walk the road of peace.
Hear my voice,
and grant insight and strength so that we may we all  respond to hatred with love, to injustice with total dedication to justice, to,need with the sharing of self, to war with peace.
O GOD , HEAR MY VOICE, AND GRANT UNTO THE WORLD YOUR EVERLASTING PEACE.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Here is a prayer sent to us recently:
LIGHTING A CANDLE OF PEACE.
We light this candle for peace, Lord.
May its light scatter the darkness,
May its flame be a symbol of hope,
May its burning be a sign of faith,
Joining with many other lights for peace.
We light this candle for peace.
May our lives be an expression of peace-making,
May we seek to be lights in a dark world,
Pointing to you, Lord Jesus, the Prince of Peace,
And following you in the way of Peace.
Let this candle burn as a sign of peace
Offered to you.
Amen.

 

There are many other things we could pray for: ask God to show you.