We pondered… what can we possibly give to our employees and clients and friends for the Holidays? The question came… in this diverse world, what do we all want? What do we yearn for? The answer was easy – every single soul yearns for peace. We aren’t that different after all. And this is the season and the moment in time to express our heart’s desire. So here we offer some beautiful prayers for peace, from different religions and cultures. We hope you enjoy!
A Prayer for World Peace, 1978
We pray for the power to be gentle;
the strength to be forgiving;
the patience to be understanding;
and the endurance to accept the consequences
of holding on to what we believe to be right.
May we put our trust in the power of good to overcome evil
and the power of love to overcome hatred.
We pray for the vision to see and the faith to believe
in a world emancipated from violence,
a new world where fear shall no longer lead men or women to commit injustice,
nor selfishness make them bring suffering to others.
Help us to devote our whole life and thought and energy
to the task of making peace,
praying always for the inspiration and the power
to fulfill the destiny for which we and all men and women were created.
– Author Unknown, Offered by Beth Amyot
Lead Us
Lord,
Lead us from death to life,
From falsehood to truth.
Lead us from despair to hope,
from fear to trust.
Let peace fill our hearts, our world and our universe.
Let us dream together, pray together and work together,
To build one world of peace and justice for all.
Author unknown
– spoken by Mother Teresa in 1981.
Buddhist Prayer for Peace
May all beings everywhere plagued with sufferings of body and mind quickly be freed from their illnesses.
May those frightened cease to be afraid and may those bound be free.
May the powerless find power, and may people think of befriending one another.
May those who find themselves in trackless, fearful wildernesses–the children, the aged, the unprotected–be guarded by beneficent celestials, and may they swiftly attain Buddhahood.
– Author Unknown
Hindu Prayer for Peace
Oh God, lead us from the unreal to the Real.
Oh God, lead us from darkness to light.
Oh God, lead us from death to immortality. Shanti, Shanti, Shanti unto all.
Oh Lord God almighty, may there be peace in celestial regions.
May there be peace on earth.
May the waters be appeasing.
May herbs be wholesome, and may trees and plants bring peace to all.
May all beneficent beings bring peace to us.
May thy Vedic Law propagate peace all through the world.
May all things be a source of peace to us.
And may thy peace itself, bestow peace on all, and may that peace come to me also.
– Author Unknown
Jewish Prayer for Peace
Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, that we may walk the paths of the Most High.
And we shall beat our swords into ploughshares, and our spears into pruning hooks.
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation- neither shall they learn war any more. And none shall be afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of Hosts has spoken.
– Author Unknown
Muslim Prayer for Peace
In the name of Allah, the beneficent, the merciful. Praise be to the Lord of the Universe who has created us and made us into tribes and nations, that we may know each other, not that we may despise each other.
If the enemy incline towards peace, do thou also incline towards peace, and trust in God, for the Lord is the one that heareth and knoweth all things.
And the servants of God, Most Gracious are those who walk on the Earth in humility, and when we address them, we say “PEACE.”
– Author Unknown
Native American Prayer for Peace
O Great Spirit of our Ancestors, I raise my pipe to you.
To your messengers the four winds, and to Mother Earth who provides for your children.
Give us the wisdom to teach our children to love, to respect, and to be kind to each other so that they may grow with peace in mind.
Let us learn to share all the good things you provide for us on this Earth.
– Author Unknown
Sikh Prayer for Peace
God adjudges us according to our deeds, not the coat that we wear: that Truth is above everything, but higher still is truthful living.
Know that we attain God when we love, and only that victory endures in consequence of which no one is defeated.
– Author Unknown
Sufi Prayer for Peace
O Almighty Sun, whose light clears away all clouds,
We take refuge in you.
Guide of all people, God of all deities, Lord of all angels,
We pray you to dispel the mists of illusion from the hearts of the nations
And lift their lives by your all-sufficient power,
Your ever shining light, your everlasting life,
Your heavenly joy and your perfect peace.
– Author Unknown
Zoroastrian Prayer for Peace
We pray to God to eradicate all the misery in the world:
that understanding triumph over ignorance,
that generosity triumph over indifference,
that trust triumph over contempt,
and that truth triumph over falsehood.
– Author Unknown
Peace Prayer of St. Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace;
Where there is hated, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, harmony;
Where there is error, truth;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And 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 into eternal life.
– Attributed to St. Francis of Assisi
Source: [LINK]