Lord of my darkest place:
Let in your light.
Lord of my greatest fear:
Let in your peace.
Lord of my most bitter shame:
Let in your word of grace.
Lord of my oldest grudge:
Let in your forgiveness.
Lord of my deepest anger:
Let it out.
Lord of my loneliest moment:
Let in your presence.
Lord of my truest self — my all:
Let in your wholeness.
— Alison Pepper
in The Book of a Thousand Prayers
compiled by Angela Ashwin
O Lord
open my eyes
that I may see the needs of others;
open my ears
that I may hear their cries;
open my heart
so that they need not be without succor;
Let me not be afraid to defend the weak
because of the anger of the strong,
nor afraid to defend the poor
because of the anger of the rich.
Show me where love and hope
and faith are needed,
and use me to bring them to those places.
And so open my eyes and my ears
that I may this coming day be able
to do some work of peace for thee.
Amen.
— Alan Paton
in Life Prayers from Around the World
edited by Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon
In that which we share,
let us see the common prayer of humanity.
In that in which we differ,
let us wonder at the freedom of humankind.
— Jewish prayer
in The Gift of Prayer,
a Fellowship in Prayer Book
Father/Mother God, Holy Spirit
Help us stay connected to our hearts and each other.
Help us to see the good in ourselves and each other.
Help us to serve the spirit of goodness in all we meet.
Help us, especially, to recognize our connection to those
who think themselves our enemy.
Help us to find value in our connections to those
whom we might think our enemies.
Help us to restore love upon this earth.
May all be fed.
May all be healed.
May all be loved.
— John Robbins
in Prayers for a Thousand Years
edited by Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon
I have no other helper than you, no other father,
I pray to you.
Only you can help me.
My present misery is too great.
Despair grips me, and I am at my wit's end.
O Lord, Creator, Ruler of the World, Father.
I thank you that you have brought me through.
How strong the pain was — but you were stronger.
How deep the fall was — but you were even deeper.
How dark the night was — but you were
the noonday sun in it.
You are our father, our mother, our brother,
and our friend.
— African prayer
in Prayers for Healing
edited by Maggie Oman
God of the peasants and the homeless,
God of the desperately poor and the cynically rich,
God of the needy and the greedy,
God of numbing bureaucracies,
God above the warring nations,
Bless and humble us with your presence.
We are waiting. We are awaited.
We confess to you our sins
of action and inaction, of silence and speech.
Through our misuse of power in personal,
communal, national, and international life.
Through searching for security in all
the wrong ways and our use of technologies
that endanger the earth and all living things.
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy.
Our world grows daily more dangerous
and distressing, especially to the least
among us. We thank you that you do not leave
us comfortless, that your Spirit speaks
to our spirits, and that in you
there is a future with hope.
— The Rev. Peter Laarman,
New York City
Teach your children
what we have taught our children-
that the earth is our mother.
Whatever befalls the earth
befalls the sons and daughters of the earth.
If men spit upon the ground,
they spit upon themselves.
This we know.
The earth does not belong to us;
we belong to the earth.
This we know.
All things are connected
like the blood which unites one family.
All things are connected.
Whatever befalls the earth
befalls the sons and daughters of the earth.
We do not weave the web of life;
We are merely a strand in it.
Whatever we do to the web.
we do to ourselves.
— Chief Seattle
in Prayers for Healing
edited by Maggie Oman
