Adapted from a prayer written by Bishop Dr. Imad Haddad, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land
Power of life,
breathe your life into our dark days.
Power of peace,
guide our words and actions
to become instruments of your true and lasting peace.
Power of justice,
teach us your righteousness and lead us in your truth.
Power of mercy,
look upon us with compassion,
and shape our hearts after your merciful heart.
Eternal One,
we pray for our land, Palestine —
a wounded land,
fragmented by walls and checkpoints,
scarred by violence,
and burdened by fear and hatred.
Have mercy on us.
With the prophet Isaiah we cry,
‘Oh, that you would tear open the heavens and come down.’
Come down, Eternal One,
and establish your justice,
your peace,
and your steadfast love among us.
How long?
How long shall our cries seem unanswered?
How long shall our people endure violence, loss, and dehumanization?
Come, restore your image in us
and in those we call our enemies.
We trust in you, yet we are weary.
We know you hear us,
yet our pain has become heavy to bear.
Empower us, though weary,
run for justice and peace.
Touch our weeping souls
to see the light of your righteousness.
How can we forgive?
We have gone far beyond seventy times seven.
How can we love?
Amidst occupation, apartheid, violence and genocide?
These questions weigh heavily on our hearts.
Empower us
to remember
that forgiveness means acknowledging injustice
and resisting it,
refusing to let our struggle for justice
strip either the oppressed or the oppressor
of the humanity you have given to us all.
Strengthen us
to love
by embracing and restoring life
where evil has sought to destroy it.
By working for justice, peace, and forgiveness
with a love that refuses both hatred and indifference.
We long to see justice,
justice that will not accept
that humanity remains imprisoned
by those who are themselves captive to the will of evil.
Lead us from the shadow of death
into the joy of the resurrection
and the fullness of life.
In our congregations, our schools, through our Diaconal Ministry, through our work for gender and environmental justice, we seek to carry out this mission of justice while following Christ’s path of life in the face of death. As one body of Christ, our partners around the world join us on this path.
Bishop Dr. Imad Haddad, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land
Here is the link to the original prayer.
Artwork in Bruges, Belgium