Palau

Daily Prayer
for Peace

Would you like to learn more about Palau?
 Visit Lonely Planet.

Gathering in Silence

Call to Prayer

Lighting of Candle

We welcome you today to this quiet place set aside for prayer and meditation. Thank you for joining us. Each day in this Temple dedicated to the pursuit of peace, we pray to God for peace in our world.  In addition, each day we pray for a different country.

Today we will remember the people of the Palau in our prayers.  Located in the North Pacific Ocean, this westernmost cluster of the Caroline Islands opted for independent status in 1978 rather than join the Federated States of Micronesia.  A Compact of Free Association with the United States was approved in 1986, but not ratified until 1993.  It entered into force the following year when the islands gained their independence.  Post-independence has been difficult with political power struggles, the Asian economic crisis and lack of infrastructure.

We light this candle as a symbol of our commitment to a just and peaceful world.  May the peace of God who has called us here guide our worship.

Scripture Reading

Isaiah 58:6-12, adapted

Is not this what I require of you, to loose the fetters of injustice, to untie the knots of the yoke, and set free those who have been crushed?  Is it not sharing your food with the hungry, taking the homeless poor into your house, clothing the naked when you meet them and never evading a duty to your kinsfolk?  If you cease to pervert justice, to point the accusing finger and lay false charges, if you feed the hungry from your own plenty and satisfy the needs of the wretched, then your light will rise like dawn out of darkness and your dusk be like noonday.  The Lord will be your guide continually and will give you strength of limb.  You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.  You shall be called Rebuilder of broken walls, Restorer of houses in ruins.

Prayer for Peace

by Finis Easter, Independence, Missouri

Merciful Heavenly Parent,

We think of permanence and unchangeability when we consider the hills and mountains, which you fashioned with your own hand.  However we do not often consider the permanence of your faithfulness and grace, which has been the hallmark of Divinity throughout all the recorded ages, and certainly before.  You made the towering peaks of the continents, the lush valleys of the plains, and the islands of the seas.  And yet, O God, you are aware of us and see our needs and desires.

When daily needs and wants press so strongly upon us, help us to remember that we have a loving Parent who is more concerned about our tomorrows, our companions, parents, our children , our friends, and the world conditions than we could ever be.  We need the peace that is the natural product of trusting, knowing that you are in control, and that you love us more than all the mountains, valleys, isles and continents combined. 

We try to fathom that you are the one who created the atom and the giant galaxies of the heavens, and all in between.  In our arrogance we agree with the psalmist, that we were created just a little lower than the angels.  In our better times, we know that also means that we have a stewardship to preserve and be a blessing to the other forms of your creation.  As we were fashioned in your own image, we recognize that we, too have obligation to provide for your lesser creatures.  We repent the times we have responded out of selfishness and distrust, rather than out of the love and compassion that you have made an integral part of our existence.

Help us, O God, to be aware of all creation, but especially our brothers and sisters of the human family.  May we joyously grant them the privilege of being different from us, not just in looks and customs, but in thought and action, desires and hopes.  In that way, your peace may find a foothold in this selfish and blind world.

We thank you for helping us to know that you are the God of all creation, and are especially mindful of us and our needs.  May we respond to your love with love, love for you and your creation, and acceptance, not just tolerance, of our fellow humans.

In the name of Jesus, our Savior we pray,  Amen.

Hymn

Great Hills May Tremble — Hymns of the Saints #153

Prayers of the People

Lord of all space, we thank you for knowing us.  We thank you for family, friends, those who will be friends, the earth and all its bounty.

The People Pray in Silence

We confess that we are less than you created us to be and humbly ask forgiveness.  We lament the causes of injustice and seek enlightenment that we may understand better our part in peace for the world.

The People Pray in Silence

We rejoice when one step is made toward peace between nations, but know the journey is long and the steps are many.  On this day, please hear our prayers concerning the nation of Palau.  Guide them as they seek to find their way past the problems that beset them.  May they know peace.

The People Pray in Silence

We would not forget the need for peace in ourselves, our families, and our nations.  Hear our concerns, we pray.

The People Pray in Silence

Please use this space to pray for any current concern or event in our community, city, state, nation or world that you feel needs to be held up to God for prayerful consideration.

The People Pray in Silence

This day, in response to your call, we offer ourselves as instruments of peace in our world.  Amen.

Sending Forth

We conclude our service today with ministry of music.  We invite you to remain in the quiet of this place to pray or meditate for as long as you may wish.

May the God of peace, of glory, and righteousness, keep us to fulfill our desires to become peacemakers in the world.

Ministry of Music