Greetings in the name of Jesus who taught is to pray!
In an article I read this week J. Heinrich Arnold is responding to the war in the Ukraine. He writes: “It is now urgent that we pour ourselves into the task of becoming peacemakers, of fashioning peace out of war.”
He lists some very practical ways we can love and support the people most impacted by war and then reminds us of the significance of our prayers.
“The most powerful action of peacemaking is prayer. We must pray for peace. We must join our voices with those of God’s people in Ukraine, in the NATO states, in Russia, and around the world to call on God to end this horror…. We must pray for God’s kingdom of peace to come to this earth, as it is in heaven. We must believe in the power of that prayer.”
In the spirit of helping to facilitate this call to prayer I share two prayers with you. One written by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, and one attributed to St. Patrick who we commemorate this week. The first is a prayer in response to war, the second is a prayer that can help to keep our souls at peace so we can live as people of love, justice and peace in the world.
Loving God, you are our peace. We pray for peace between Russia and Ukraine.
We pray for the people of Ukraine – those who are forced to flee, those who are trapped and unable to flee, those who are in need of aid, those who have died.
We pray for Ukrainian and Russian soldiers, that they may be moved to lay down their weapons. We pray for world leaders, that they would be led into your ways of peace and justice.
We pray for our whole world who watches and worries. God have mercy!
(Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada)
I arise today through God’s strength to pilot me;
God’s might to uphold me, God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s eye to look before me, God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to guard me, God’s way to lie before me,
God’s shield to protect me, God’s hosts to save me.
Christ shield me today against wounding
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me, Christ in the ear that hears me.
I arise today, through the mighty strength, of the Lord of creation. (St. Patrick)
Pastor Ray