With One Heart: A Prayer

A Prayer for Syria and the Middle East
[prayer reposted from www.mcc.org/middleeastcrisis. As of Feb. 23, Mennonite Central Committee has launched a $500,000 Middle East Crisis appeal to assist partner organizations as they provide humanitarian aid and build peace.]

mcc.org/middleeastcrisis

Almighty God, we pray today for all people of the Middle East, who face a time of change and uncertainty. With one mouth and one heart, together with our brothers and sisters there, we pray that God would console those who have lost loved ones.

We pray for strength for the church in the Middle East, that they might not give up hope in spite of all the challenges that lie ahead, but would instead hold steadfast to the faith of their ancestors and remain rooted in their homes and homelands.  Safeguard their presence and invigorate their witness there.

We ask that people who have been driven apart by violence may come back to each other in love, tolerance, cooperation, and wisdom. We pray that changes in the region respect principles of justice, freedom, and human dignity.

Thank you for the challenges before us, Lord, as they present us with new opportunities to serve our neighbors. Give us each the courage to work for reconciliation and peace and to advocate all just causes.

Our faith gives us a living hope ever incarnate in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Let us be witnesses to that faith, here and throughout the world.

Amen.

This prayer was compiled by Sarah Adams, MCC representative for Lebanon and Syria, from recent prayers offered by church leaders in the two countries. (Feb. 21, 2012)