Our God is a God of peace. People try to turn Him into a God of war, but it is both His nature and His desire that peace should prevail in the earth. God makes us His agents of peace, and by His spirit working within us we are always to seek to live in harmony with all those around us as well as those who are far from us. God has sent one among us whom we call the Prince of Peace. Therefore let us, with renewed confidence, worship the God who commands peace among all His daughters and sons.
Pastoral Prayer
Through Thy creative purposes, O God, each of us has been called into existence. We give Thee thanks and praise for the gift of life, and for every factor which makes human existence such a fruitful and joyful experience. We thank Thee for our parents, who gave us life by means of Thy biological blessing. We thank Thee for all the members of our primary and extended families, who watched over us and assisted us as we grew into adulthood. We thank Thee for all the many people who have played major and minor roles in our lives: friends, neighbors, fellow citizens in various community pursuits, vocational associates, and for those who are part of this particular worship community. Help us to see every person in our lives as yet another gift to us from Thee, and help us to live together in love, not rancor, with far greater concern for our common welfare than for our tendency toward warfare.
We pray for the many thousands of people worldwide whose lives are daily threatened by organized violence of competing armies. Be with civilians who do not bear arms against anyone, but who are nonetheless frequently the victims of armed conflicts. Uphold those who are ordered into combat, some of whom do so with great enthusiasm and exaltation, and others of whom are terrified by the prospect of being killed or of killing someone else. Guide the thinking and actions of the government officials anywhere whose decisions result in war. Make them far more willing to seek peace by any means than to declare war at all costs. Bless especially those who strive to enable diplomacy to trump defense in the affairs of peoples and nations.
We pray this day for everyone who is fighting a battle, not of arms or bombs, but of illness or poverty or legal disputes or injustice. Give them strength for their battles, and hope for their future, even though the future at times may appear to be very doubtful or compromised. Be with everyone in the helping professions, that they too may be strengthened by Thee for their own positions in the battle strategy against adversity. All these things we ask in the name of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, Thy unique son. Now we pray together as he taught his first disciples, saying, Our Father….