Prayer #6: A Prayer of Heartbreak and Hope
Creator God,
We gather today to lift up our prayers of heartbreak and hope.
Creator God , hear our prayer.
God of love. We witness with shattered hearts the intensifying military operations in Gaza, even as Israeli forces continue to blockade all humanitarian aid, announce further displacement of thousands, and prepare for an even more devastating military invasion. We also witness the spread of Israeli military assaults and settler violence on the people of the West Bank. We cry out again, “How long, O Lord!” How long must this violence and injustice continue?
God of love, hear our prayer.
God of mercy. We confess our silence as a genocide unfolds on our computers and TV screens. Forgive us when we turn away from the stories and the images that disturb our comfortable lives. Forgive us, when we grow weary of trying to understand and to respond. Forgive us our lack of courage for speaking out when we know we should. Forgive us when we forget those who suffer.
God of mercy, hear our prayer.
God of weakness. We hold up before you the victims of violence in Gaza, West Bank and also Israel. We think of all those 60,000 plus Palestinian lives that have been cut short in the last 18 months. We think of the innocent children, women, and elderly who have been murdered. We think of the health care professionals targeted for seeking to care for the sick and injured, and the journalists targeted for seeking to convey the truth of what is happening. We remember those who are hungry and starving now. We remember all Palestinian prisoners and Israeli hostages.
God of weakness, hear our prayer.
God of power. We are filled with rage against those who perpetrate and support a genocide. We pray for them and for those who could act to stop the genocide, but who fail to do so. We pray for the powerful -- that you convert their hearts, that you teach them compassion, that you convict them of their evil deeds. We pray that a global cry for justice and peace will rise up and turn the hearts of the powerful to those with little power.
God of power, hear our prayer.
God of justice. We weep at how warfare and militarism are destroying people and the planet. We lament that global military spending has reached $2.7 trillion dollars annually and that Canada has promised to increase its military spending dramatically. We lament that companies which build and market weapons are fuelling wars around the world and making millions while they do so. We condemn the injustice, carnage and devastation that military might causes all life, all creation.
God of justice, hear our prayer.
God of peace. You show us another way. You teach us that violence and revenge and domination will not bring a sustainable security. You show us that all people are your children, all part of the human family that you love and cherish. In the life and death and resurrection of your son Jesus, you demonstrate that security is found, not in military and structural violence, but in the practise of justice, in the nonviolent resolution of conflict, in the recognition that all people are created in your image. Grant us courage and conviction to witness to your way of peace.
God of peace, hear our prayer.
God of hope. We confess that at times we succumb to hopelessness. We acknowledge that at times we wonder if our efforts for peace make any difference. At times we doubt your presence and your power to intervene. Fill us with your Spirit, that we may tune our eyes and ears to the sights and sounds of loving resistance, of courageous action, of compassionate caring – the signs that you are working in our world to bring forth your reign of justice and peace. Fill us with the hope that may inspire hope in those around us.
God of hope, hear our prayer. Amen.