Prayers for peace: Words of hope from faiths around the world

Peace prayers: words of hope from faiths around the world

Whether you’re searching for peace for yourself, your community or our world, here are a few prayers from various faiths that might inspire you. These words of hope from faiths around the world were suggested by religious leaders, Facebook friends and by the knowledgeable people in the forums at Beliefnet.com.

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A lettered prayer for peace that reads,

Lord,
Make me an instrument of your peace;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.

– The Prayer of Saint Francis

A lettered peace Baha'i prayer that reads,

O Thou kind Lord!
Unite all.
Let the religions agree
and make the nations one,
so that they may see each other as one family
and the whole earth as one home.
May they all live together in perfect harmony.

– Baha’i prayer

A lettered Zoroastrian peace prayer that reads,

The greatest is one who restrains violence.
May bloodshed be prevented.
May tribulation be vanished.
May peace be brought upon earth.
May the Wise Lord lead us all again.
May the brotherhood of man come down among us,
So that the conscience of every person earns the reward of righteousness,
a wish regarded by the Wise One.

– Zoroastrian Peace Prayer

A lettered passage from the Hebrew Bible, Psalm 23, verses 1–6, that reads,

HaShem is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul;
He guideth me in straight paths for His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me;
Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies;
Thou hast anointed my head with oil;
my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of HaShem for ever.

– Psalm 23: 1–6, Tanakh. Jewish Publication Society, 1917.

An excerpt from the dedication prayer of Shantideva an 8th century Indian Buddhist scholar, that reads,

May the frightened cease to be afraid
And those bound be freed;
May the powerless find power
And may people think of benefitting each other.

For as long as space remains,
For as long as sentient beings remain,
Until then may I too remain
To dispel the miseries of the world.

– excerpt from “Shantideva’s Dedication Prayer”

A lettered Hindu prayer from the Rigveda that reads,

May all the beings in all the worlds be happy.
May all the beings in all the worlds be happy.
May all the beings in all the worlds be happy.
Om Peace, Peace, Peace.

– a Hindu prayer from the Rigveda

A prayer for peace from The Prophet Muhammad that reads,

Oh God, You are peace.
From You comes peace,
To You returns peace.
Revive us with a salutation of peace,
And lead us to your abode of peace.

– The Prophet Muhammad

A peace prayer from The Episcopal Church Book of Common Prayer that reads,

O God of peace,
who hast taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved,
in quietness and in confidence shall be our strength:
By the might of thy Spirit lift us, we pray to thee,
to thy presence, where we may be still and know that thou art God;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

– The Episcopal Church Book of Common Prayer. Oxford University Press, New York, 2007.

A prayer for peace from Julian of Norwich, a 14th century Christian mystic, that reads,

All shall be well,
and all shall be well,
and all manner of things shall be well.

– Julian of Norwich, a 14th century Christian mystic

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