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In fulfilling the Commitment to Peacemaking, we will do peacemaking
through prayer and Bible Study. — Commitment
to Peacemaking
Spiritual Nuture for Peacemakers
Use the prayers and lectionary on this page to nurture your spiritual growth as a Peacemaker.
January 11, 2009
Prayers
Adapt or rewrite these prayers for use in Sunday worship on January 11, 2009, or in daily devotions.
A Prayer for Peace in Gaza
Eternal God,
In this Christmas season when your children cry "Peace! Peace!" but there is no peace, be with us and help us find hope in you. Be with the people of Gaza, of Israel, and the whole world reminding us that you are the giver of all life and what a precious gift it is. Be with the leaders of this World so that they may be awakened to the realities of suffering, and comfort those who sit in darkness that they may see your light.
Help us to use our hearts rather than our weapons, our compassion instead of our apathy and our love instead of our fear. We pray this and all things in the name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Amen.
— Terra Winston, M.Div.
Joint Christian Committee-Sabra Palestinian Refugee Camp, Beirut Lebanon
Find additional prayers and resources related to the crisis in Gaza.
A Prayer to End Torture
O God, you have created all people in your image, each one of us with dignity and worth, sacred in your sight. Help us this day and every day to hold that truth in our hearts and to honor it in all we do, treating every person as your beloved child. We pray for the courage, as a nation, to confront the abuses authorized and committed in our name — the use of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment — in the effort to make us safe. We grieve, knowing that inflicting injustice and cruelty on even one person scars and diminishes all of us. Our nation's use of torture has degraded victims, perpetrators, and policy makers, and has damaged the soul of our nation itself. We rejoice in your healing and redemption and in your promise that that which is broken, you will make whole. May we faithfully participate in your repairing of the world. We pray, dear God, that in the coming days, our government will end the use of torture and begin to heal our national soul. In these days before our new President takes office, we ask for your blessing on him and his staff. Give him the courage and wisdom to end the use of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment — without exceptions — and to lead us in restoring the goodness and integrity of our country. And let us say: Amen.
— National Religious Coalition Against Torture
The National Religious Coalition Against Torture (NRCAT) notes that President-elect Obama can halt U.S.-sponsored torture on his first day in office by issuing an executive order based on the Declaration of Principles, created by NRCAT and affirmed by the 218th General Assembly (2008). From January 11, the seventh anniversary of the opening of Guantanamo, to January 20, the inauguration, NRCAT invites people of all faiths to join in this multi-faith prayer. Find additional prayers related to stopping torture.
Biblical Witness to Peacemaking
A daily lectionary exploring the richness
of God's peacegiving and Christ's call to peacemaking.
Download the Biblical
Witness to Peacemaking 2008-2009 
Living as God’s Children
- January 18, 2009 – Matthew 25:31-46
- January 19, 2009 – Romans 13:11-14
- January 20, 2009 – 1 John 1:1-10
- January 21, 2009 – 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28
- January 22, 2009 – Hebrews 13:1-6
- January 23, 2009 – Romans 12:1-2, 9-21
- January 24, 2009 – Ephesians 4:1-7
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