Tag Archives: prayer

June 24, 2014 · 11:19 pm

Prayer for Peace on 6/25

A prayer for peace on the Korean Peninsula for the anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War. Thanks Kurt!

kurtesslinger's avatarHyeyoung and Kurt's Korean Adventure

Today, June 25th, marks the day commonly recognized as the beginning of the Korean War when international powers dragged the Korean Peninsula back into conflict, except this time within itself.  As part of my job with the NCCK, I come into contact with resources, liturgy, and prayers that they have created on behalf of the peaceful reconciliation movement. I would like to share this prayer with you today which comes from a service created by NCCK members for the peaceful reconciliation movement.

Oh Lord, who unites us with the joy of liberation, thank you for filling us with life and joy and for reconciling our divided hearts through [our common worship as Christians around the world and our common communion around the table]. The fellowship you have given us becomes our hope and promise while suffering from deep division between sister to sister, brother to brother, and neighbor to neighbor.

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Join – 24 March 2014

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Prayers of the people,
58th Commission on the Status of Women

10 March 2014
Church Center for the United Nations
Manhattan, New York

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May 25, 2014 · 6:36 pm
May 10, 2014 · 4:34 pm

Pray for a girl; pray for the world

IMG_3074 (800x533)This week, I received a reminder of one way prayer functions.

In response to the kidnapping of a number of school girls in Nigeria on April 14, I joined many people in praying for a specific girl. It makes the horror more manageable and provides a sense of humanity.

A list of names, reportedly those of some of the girls, circulated around the internet. I helped with that circulation.

Some question the use of the girls names. Is the list correct? Was it shared with the permission of the families? Jinna Moore adds questions from a representative of the governor of Borno state: Could the release of the names in some way further endanger the girls? Could it make it easier for those who abducted the girls to identify their parents and extort ransom? Could it place the stigma of rape, whether rape happened or not, over the girl?

I  ponder those questions. And I continue to pray for a specific girl. I use only a first name when I make references and I will not share the list any further.

When I pray for one girl, the web of prayer begins to tremble. And I find myself praying for much more:

for all the girls and their families

for all the people of Nigeria

for all the girls and boys trafficked around the world, in probably every part of the world

for girls and boys, men and women trafficked for sex or for their labor or for their organs

for men, and women, who buy and sell children for sex

for men, and women, who buy and sell children and adults for their labor or their organs

for those who exploit and abuse their brothers and sisters in any way

for those who work to end trafficking, exploitation, and abuse

for those who resort to violence

for those who respond to violence with violence

for those who seek to over come violence with nonviolence.

The list goes on and on and on.

Touch a spider web, set the web a tremble.

Pray for a girl. Pray for the world.

See you along the Trail

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April 10, 2014 · 2:41 pm

Join in prayer with Syrians for Syria

map-syriaTomorrow, Friday, March 11, will you pray in your own fashion, for a just peace for Syria?

From the Presbyterian News Service:

A group of young adults from churches across Syria are calling for the world to join them in kindling the candle of peace by praying together simultaneously on Friday, April 11, at 9:00 p.m. GMT (5:00 p.m. EDT).

The call comes from the Syrian Multimedia Youth Team:

The Syrian Multimedia Youth Team works for positive change within Syrian society by using modern media and technology to encourage local development and dialogue for peace. Many team members belong to PC(USA) partner churches and are leaders within the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon.

I will pray. Presbyterians around the U.S. will pray. Reports are that people in Jordan, Egypt, Palestine, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, and Canada will pray.

Will you join us?

See you along the Trail.

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February 15, 2014 · 6:15 pm

Pray for South Sudan

Tomorrow – February 16 – join in prayer for our brothers and sisters in South Sudan. The Episcopal Church, the Reformed Church in America, the World Communion of Reformed Churches, and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) are among those calling for prayer.

From the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s call by Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.); Linda Bryant Valentine, Executive Director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency; and Neal D. Presa, Moderator of the 220th General Assembly (2012);

“The ceasefire that went into effect in South Sudan on January 23 provides a sign of hope,” noted Parsons. “Our brothers and sisters need our prayer and support as they seek to move into a future of justice and peace.”

South Sudan achieved independence in 2011. Violence erupted in the new nation in December 2013 after a political dispute between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy, Riek Machar.

The conflict resulted in many deaths and a severe humanitarian crisis. More than half a million South Sudanese have been forced from their homes. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees reports that, as of January 31, some 770,000 people have been displaced—646,400 within the country and 123,400 outside.

The call provides a sample prayer and ideas for action:

Gracious God, we lift before you the people of South Sudan who seek to create a new future after a period of violence. Three years ago, we rejoiced with our sisters and brothers as they voted for independence and became the world’s newest nation. Over the past months, our hearts were heavy as a deep conflict threatened to destroy all for which they have strived. We mourned with those who lost loved ones in this unrest, with the children and adults who have become traumatized again and again, with those who are injured, imprisoned, and hiding, and with those driven from their homes. We give thanks for the ceasefire, but we pray for our brothers and sisters as they face the tasks of building a future together. God of reconciliation, we ask you to send your Spirit of unity and peace to guide the people and the leaders of South Sudan from violence and into the paths of peace and justice. We pray for our partners in the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan, the South Sudan Evangelical Presbyterian Church, RECONCILE, the South Sudan Council of Churches and Across; may they feel your presence with them. Strengthen them with the power of your Holy Spirit as they witness to the strong love of Christ, advocating for peace and justice in a situation that is only hopeful because we follow a resurrected Christ. In whose name we pray, Amen.

In addition to prayer, we encourage Presbyterians to:

May the people of South Sudan soon know justice and peace.

See you along the Trail

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December 9, 2013 · 11:52 pm

For a world in mourning

From the Presbyterian News Service:

The Rev. Neal Presa, moderator of the PC(USA)’s 220th General Assembly (2012), the Rev. Gradye Parsons, stated clerk of the General Assembly, and Linda Valentine, executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, issued a call to prayer “for a world in mourning at the death of Nelson Mandela, the first black president of a free South Africa, international peacemaker, human rights activist, and Nobel Peace Prize winner.”

The full text of their call:

And I heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘Write this: Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord.’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.’ (Revelation 14:13, NRSV)

Everliving God, whose countenance greets us at the birth of life, whose love accompanies us in our laboring days, and whose gracious welcome grants us the final rest at the twilight of our years, we look to you in this hour, as did your servant and our brother, Nelson Mandela.  Into your eternal comfort, gracious Lord, we commit his soul, where in your everlasting abode, in your very heart, he finds his peaceful rest.

With grateful hearts, we offer our thanks to you, Lord, for the life and witness of Nelson Mandela among us, who, like the prophets of old, showed us and the world the way of truth and life in his unwavering commitment to equality for all and to healing and reconciliation in a divided and broken world, at great cost to himself and his family.

We give you thanks, faithful God, for you accompanied Nelson in his years of imprisonment, strengthening his resolve, kindling and keeping the flame of hope in him alive that one day his beloved South Africa would see neighbor loving neighbor, not as a divided and defeated people partitioned by skin color, ideology or region, but finding common cause in their humanity as people created in your image, and therefore precious in your sight.

Loving God, who as Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, you showed us the ways of your kingdom and what servant leadership is about, we remember your son, Nelson, as one whom you anointed to serve as a leader of South Africa and the world for a generation, whose words of wisdom, acts of courage, and humble spirit testified to the power and possibilities of your grace that knows no bounds. Through one man, you have touched the lives of so many.

In life and in death, in body and in soul, we belong to you, loving Lord. So, in this hour, unite us in prayer as we grieve with the Mandela family. Accompany them with your generous and embracing love in their hour of mourning. Turn their weeping to singing, their downcast heads to dancing, and keep alive in their hearts and in ours your vision of a better and just world, even that same dream that you placed upon Nelson’s soul, and for whose labors we trust you will offer the word, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

In the name of your servant Son, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.

See you along the Trail.

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December 5, 2013 · 5:46 pm

Farewell, Mr. Mandela

Farewell, Mr. Mandela,

We never met. I never laid eyes on you in person.

But I saw and heard you on television. I read words about you. And I read your words.

Your
courage
passion
grace
vision

Your
steadfast pursuit of justice
enduring commitment to the people – all the people – of South Africa
understanding of the possibilities opened by forgiveness
willingness to look beyond what is to what could be

touched and awed and inspired me
and countless others.

I give thanks for you,
for your life, and
for your work.

I give thanks that,
though half a world lay between us
we shared life on this
little brown, green, blue rock.

I pray for your family
for you friends and colleagues
for the people of South Africa
for weavers of dreams
and workers for justice
who grieve at your death.

May we know comfort as we mourn.

May we have strength to join you in the struggle for freedom, justice, and dignity for all God’s children.

May we experience your presence accompanying us in that struggle.

Farewell, Mr. Mandela, farewell.

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September 14, 2013 · 7:11 pm

Today, my friend

Today,
my friend,
I pray for you.

Peace,
my friend,
I pray for you.

Rest,
my friend,
I pray for you.

Strength,
my friend,
I pray for you.

Hope,
my friend,
I pray for you.

Courage,
my friend,
I pray for you.

Justice,
my friend,
I pray for you.

This day,
my friend,
I pray for you.

Always,
my friend,
I pray for you.

14 September 2013
Shire on the Hudson

Slightly different versions of this prayer-poem came out today for friends in different difficult situations.

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September 7, 2013 · 7:34 am

For the peace of Syria

Today … and everyday …

pray for the peace of Syria

work for the peace of Syria (contact U.S leaders by email and by phone)

fast, if you are able, for the peace of Syria

Today … and everyday …

pray, work, and fast (if you are able) for the

peace of Syria and the

peace of the world.

See you along the Trail

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July 29, 2013 · 9:55 am

Pray for peace on Korean Peninsula

My friends Hyeyoung Lee and Kurt Esslinger serve as the Young Adult Volunteer coordinators in Daejeon, Republic of Korea for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). They offer this prayer for PC(USA) members to use during the season of prayer called for by the statement on the Peace of the Korean Peninsula. It is posted here with their permission.

God of the universe, God of the nations,
The people of the Korean Peninsula are crying out,
They no longer wish to live in the shadow of war,
They no longer wish to have resources diverted from life toward death,
They no longer wish to live in fear of the next possible misjudgment in calculation and rhetoric,
They yearn for healing and truth,
You call us to be a people of light, of life, and of peace,
But we have stood silent as our country perpetuates the machinations of death, darkness, and war.
How long, O Lord, must the Korean people live in a state of war?
We confess that we stood by and watched as we split an unwilling country into two,
We confess that those we voted into office ignored the context of a people tired of colonization,
We confess that our military has taken advantage of Korean gratitude,
We confess that our SOFA agreement denies justice to all those harmed by our representatives,
We confess that military presence comes hand in hand with the presence of brothels and sex trade,
We confess that we would much rather pretend this is “their problem,”
We confess that we believe we have no responsibility,
We confess that we hope to continue a policy of isolation despite its ineffectiveness,
We confess that we find it easier to continue the tired old song of hostility than to boldly move toward peace,
Help lead us into a future with the possibility of life,
A future where tools of death are laid down and the call of life,
Rise up a passion for justice, for peace, and for advocacy in your children,
Give our leaders the creativity to find new effective steps toward peace,
Give us the will to reunite families,
Help us lift up the voices of peace within the Korean Peninsula,
Gracious God of forgiveness and healing,
May we be transformed into effective agents
in partnership with the people of Korea
in making your Heavenly Commonwealth of Peace a reality on this planet.
Amen.

May it be so.

See you along the Trail.

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