Daily Prayer for Peace
1:00 p.m.
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Venezuela
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Gathering in Silence
Call to Prayer
Lighting of CandleInvitation |
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We greet you in the name of the
God who has called us to peace. Each day in this Temple, dedicated to
the pursuit of peace, we pray to God for peace in our world. In
addition, each day we pray for a different country.
Today we will hold up the people of Venezuela in our prayers. Located in
South America, Venezuela was ruled chiefly by dictators until 1958.
Peaceful elections have since distinguished the country as one of the
most stable democracies in South America. Current concerns include:
drug-related conflicts along the Colombian border, increasing internal
drug consumption, overdependence on the petroleum industry with its
price fluctuations, and mining operations that are endangering the rain
forest and indigenous peoples.
Let us worship together and lift up an ensign of peace, and make a
proclamation for peace unto the ends of the earth. |
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| Reading: Psalm 34:15, 17-18 IP |
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The eyes of Our God are on those who do
justice,
and God’s ears are open to their cry.
The just cry out, and Our God hears,
and saves them from all their troubles.
Our God is close to the brokenhearted
and rescues those whose spirits are crushed. |
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Prayer for Peace by Bruce Lindgren,
Independence, Missouri |
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We pause at this time in our day, O God, to offer a
prayer for peace in our world. We are aware that peace is often missing
from our lives, and for this we must repent. Despite our best
intentions, we often find ourselves engaged in activities that work
against the peace we desire and the peace you have called us to.
O Lord, we stand in need of your forgiveness and redemption. Turn our
foolishness into your victory, and transform our mistakes into moments
of grace. We are aware that there is no true and lasting peace without
justice, and we are aware of places where justice is still in fragile
infancy. May peace and justice grow in harmony in all places where they
are fragile and new.
You have called us to be peacemakers, O God, and yet we realize that we
can do so only when we carry your peace with us. Help us to be makers of
your peace. Work through us, that your peace and your justice and your
mercy will dwell in our world. We ask for your blessings, O God, but may
they be blessings that bring about your peaceful reign. In Jesus' name
we pray. Amen. |
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Hymn - O Jesus, I Have Promised -
Hymns of the Saints #463 |
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Prayers of the People
Please join us now, praying the Prayers of the People. During the
moments of silence, you are invited to pray silently or meditate. |
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O God, come into the brokenness of our lives and our
land with your healing love. Help us to be willing to bow before you in
true repentance, and to bow to one another in real forgiveness. |
| The People Pray in Silence |
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By the fire of your Holy Spirit melt our hard hearts, and consume the
pride and prejudice which separate us. Fill us, O Lord, with your
perfect love which casts out fear, and bind us together in Divine unity. |
| The People Pray in Silence |
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We pray for all ecumenical initiatives, and all occasions which bring
together people of different traditions and customs. Help us to see the
good in all people especially as we remember the people of the
Venezuela. May we all learn of peace. |
| The People Pray in Silence |
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We thank you and praise you for love that sustains us, for wisdom that
directs us, and for desire that beckons us toward peace in our world. |
| The People Pray in Silence |
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At this time we remember our private
concerns. Hear our petitions we humbly ask. |
| The People Pray in Silence |
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Please use this space to pray for any current concern or event in our
community, city, state, nation or world that you feel needs to be held
up to God for prayerful consideration. |
| The People Pray in Silence |
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We pray these things in the Spirit of Peace. Amen. |
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| Sending Forth |
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We conclude our service today with Ministry of Music.
You are invited to remain to pray or meditate in the quiet of this place
for as long as you may wish.
Go now and be a peacemaker. |
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| Ministry of Music |
