War Prayers

Prayer for Those Dying in War

God, Hear our prayer for all those who will die today because of war, especially the children.

Prepare them for the agony, despair, and terror of the violence that is upon them. Comfort them and hold them close to the bosom of your most Immaculate Heart as they drink deeply of the bitter cup which is forced upon them. Wipe their tears, calm their fears, welcome them to peace and safety. Eternal rest grant to them, and may perpetual light shine upon them. May all rise in judgment against the wickedness that brings this violence upon the world.

 Overturn the thrones of tyranny, scatter the unjust, cast down the bloody rulers who make the cry of the widow and orphan rise to heaven. Give us your grace and strength to stand against the demonic powers which prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Grant that peace with justice will come to all the world. Amen.

 United Church of Christ


A Prayer for an End to Violence, War, and Senseless Death

Loving God,

The guns and rockets, drones and bombs are endless…. The pictures of destruction and death keep washing over us in the news…

Wrap all and each of these your people in your love. Speak to their hearts: “Come to me you who suffer and are burdened and I will give you rest.”

In the mass shootings and gang violence that have rung out on the city streets of our cities, towns and villages across our nation,

Wrap all and each of these your people in your love. Speak to their hearts: “Come to me you who suffer and are burdened and I will give you rest.”

The Palestinians and Israel are engaged in a seeming endless endless and uneven struggle while the world watches silently.

Wrap all and each of these your people in your love. Speak to their hearts: “Come to me you who suffer and are burdened and I will give you rest.”

And hidden unseen in so many homes and families around the world, domestic violence and the abuse of innocent children takes vulnerable victims….

Wrap all and each of these your people in your love. Speak to their hearts: “Come to me you who suffer and are burdened and I will give you rest.”

In countless parts of our world today, the air is tense with waiting, uncertainty, insecurity. From ravaged lands, destroyed by war, Your peoples lift their hands to You, pleading. We pray for an end to the violence, for justice, and for peace to come and to last. We fear that they will not.

Wrap all and each of these your people in your love. Speak to their hearts: “Come to me you who suffer and are burdened and I will give you rest.”

O God, the Source of all that is, God of Abraham and Sarah, from whom three great religions stemmed. We pray for peace, salaam, shalom. We pray for a just and respectful peace between Israelis and Palestinians, Sunnis and Shiites, Muslims, Jews and Christians. We pray for solutions that resolve the roots of historical conflicts. We pray for a commitment to human rights by all sides and the protection of all lives. We pray for effective international intervention to ensure justice for all. We pray for humanitarian aid and rebuilding to reverse the destruction and the hatred that has grown generation after generation.

Wrap all and each of these your people in your love. Speak to their hearts: “Come to me you who suffer and are burdened and I will give you rest.”

We pray for peace and for justice in our homes and on our streets.

Wrap all and each of these your people in your love. Speak to their hearts: “Come to me you who suffer and are burdened and I will give you rest.”

We pray for an end to violence, war, and senseless death. Grant us this, peaceful God. Grant us a peaceful world. Amen.

James E. Hug, SJ


Prayer for Peace

Eternal God, maker of heaven and earth, we pray the people of Iraq. We ask that your mercy and grace reach those who have suffered from war, continued bombings, and sanctions. Hear the cries of the thousands who grieve the death of their children, the death of family members, the death of security and well-being. We pray for the people of the U.S. that we would support efforts to create peaceful relations with Iraq. We pray for our political leaders, that they will have the wisdom to provide a security not based upon the threat of power, but the vulnerability of compassion, and the vision of being world citizens. We pray for justice and peace, a justice that tears down walls that divide nations, a peace that builds bridges of hope between peoples.
Amen.

Leo Hartshorn


Prayers for a Thousand Years

We are about to enter the 15 millionth millennium of the universe.
We are about to enter the 4.5 millionth millennium of the earth.
We are about to enter the 4 millionth millennium of life.
We are about to enter the 2,600 millennium of humans.
We are about to enter the 4th millennium of the common era.

We are who we are today because of all that has existed before us.
We carry in our bodies and spirits the struggles and changes, joys
and sorrows, loves and hates that have occurred throughout all time.

We are called to live with the knowledge and awareness that we are
part of all that is and that our decisions have an effect on the quality
of life for all beings. We are called to live this connectedness that
exists between all members of creation. We are called to put our
hands upon creation and speak to it in words and touch, telling it how
lovely it is because it cannot remember. We are called to remember
loveliness for one another until each of us can remember, believe, and live in love.

Mary Goergen, OSF


Prayer for the Innocent Victims

Lord God,
your own Son was delivered into the hands of the wicked, yet he prayed for his persecutors and overcame hatred with the blood of the Cross.
Relive the sufferings of the innocent victims of war; grant them peace of mind, healing of body, and a renewed faith in your protection and care. Grant this through Christ our Lord.

Catholic Online


Prayer for Refugees and Victims of War

Lord God, no one is a stranger to you and no one is ever far from your loving care. In your kindness, watch over refugees and victims of war, those separated from their loved ones, young people who are lost, and those who have left home or who have run away from home.Bring them back safely to the place where they long to beand help us always to show your kindness to strangers and to all in need Grant this through Christ our Lord.

Catholic Online


God of faithfulness, we come to You in anguish. We are filled with anxieties and questions. What words of supplication can we bring before You, what prayer, what deeds?

God, we need Your grace to center our minds and settle our hearts.
We need Your hope to sustain our passion for justice and our will to be peacemakers. We need Your wisdom to help us recognize your presence dwelling within us and within every being you have made.
We need your courage to live as children of light, hope and love,
putting away all darkness, fear and hatred.

Take from us all longing for vengeance. Fill us with compassion for victims of violence throughout the world. Give us a love that is not withheld even from our enemies. Grant that our leaders may act justly.

Be with us in our prayer. Help us to truly believe, not only in Your abiding presence, but also in the power of prayer to move mountains.

Pull us from the grasp of violence. Guide our steps in Your way of peace.
Amen.

Christian Answers


Click on these links for more prayers:

Catholic Relief Services

The Forward Movement of the Episcopalian Church