February 24, 2016 –
ACT PALESTINE FORUM
PRAYER VIGIL FOR PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Prayer Petitions for the Season of Lent
Wednesday, 24 February 2016
Every day in the month ahead, we continue to pray with and for our sisters and brothers in Palestine and Israel who have called for an ecumenical prayer vigil across the globe on the 24th of every month.
This month, we lift up prayers for our sisters and brothers in Israel and Palestine who live under continued acts of violence and humiliation. We focus our prayers this month on the time of fasting in Lent, and how we can turn our sacrifice towards the needs of others. We continue to pray for a just and lasting peace solution in Israel and Palestine.
Therefore, we invite you to use these prayers throughout the coming month. APF encourages its friends and partners to visit the APF website and APF Facebook page often to find, and also contribute, updates, photos, stories, advocacy ideas, and special prayers.
Please use and distribute the PRAYERS below.
PRAYERS
L1: In this season of Lent, as we make our spiritual journey through the wilderness and prepare as a faith community to meet the risen Christ at Easter, we are reminded that God calls us to lives rooted in justice. We pray for a change of heart that we may be in right relationship with God and neighbor alike. Our fast is from indifference to people living in poverty and suffering oppression.
L2: Let us join together with our sisters and brothers in Palestine and Israel, as we do on the 24th of every month, to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, of Israel, and of Palestine.
L1: O God, our creator…
L2: Where people live with suspicion and fear, violence and retaliation, uncertainty and upheaval as their constant companions,
C: Grant that your holy and life-breathing Spirit may move among us, breaking down walls that divide, building up shattered lives and homes, giving light to the refugee and courage to the most vulnerable members of society, ushering in the day that all may live in safety and security.
L1: God of hope…
L2: When hearts are discouraged and tired, where political prisoners are separated from their loved ones, when workers and students cross checkpoints daily in order to work or learn or visit family, when whole families despair as their homes are demolished before their eyes,
C: Grant that your love and life-sustaining power will fill your children, encouraging, energizing, freeing, uniting and protecting all who struggle to keep hope alive.
L1: O God, source of all goodness and compassion…
L2: Where unemployment is staggeringly high, where many have difficult access to medical care and basic necessities, where land and water and other resources are taken illegally,
C: Reveal your justice and life-giving grace to us, opening our eyes, inspiring leaders to work for the common good. Embolden advocates and activists to speak truth to power. Strengthen teachers, social workers, pastors and bishops, scientists and lawyers, farmers and laborers, and all who help in the delivery of humanitarian services to ensure that everyone may access their fair portion of the abundance of our shared earth.
L1: God of peace…
L2: Where there is reliance on the force of arms to frighten, harm or subjugate a neighbor, where children cannot walk to school without the threat of being attacked along the way, where farmers cannot harvest their crops without being harassed,
C: Grant that your righteousness and life-affirming presence be proclaimed, challenging Israelis and Palestinians to follow a nonviolent path toward the end of the occupation, agitating for the protection of human rights, and comforting those whose lives have been afflicted by abuse and violence.
L1: God of reconciliation…
L2: Where relationships are broken and never restored, where people are isolated from each other and from the goods and services that alleviate suffering, where political processes meant to restore dignity produce only cynicism, anger, and indifference,
C: Grant that your mercy and life-restoring steadfastness may astound us, animating in us an eagerness to forgive and be forgiven. Empower individuals, communities, and nations to be generous and tenderhearted. Bless Palestinians and Israelis who dare to take risks for peace. Guide and refresh all those who accompany them.
L1: Open the eyes of Palestinians and Israelis so that they may witness your image in the eyes of the other and recognize that the freedom and security of one people is dependent on the freedom and security of the other,
L2: Accompany our journey through these forty days. Renew us in the gift of baptism, that we may provide for those who are poor, pray for those in need, fast from self-indulgence, and above all that we may find our treasure in the life of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen.
A printable PDF version of the prayers: APF Prayers February 2016