For Racial Justice Sunday, 14 February, we offer these two prayers from Martyn Payne, our volunteer prayer advocate.
Peace-making God,
In Christ your love never ran out
when faced with hatred and ignorance,
cruelty and fear.
In our day, by the power of your cross,
bring together
fear-filled strangers
and prejudice-inspired enemies,
and break down the dividing walls between us.
Through your resurrection
Help us to breathe again
the compassionate and caring oxygen of Eden
by which we can recognise your likeness in every human being,
rejoicing that you made each of us uniquely different,
in the all-equal, all-welcome, all-people Kingdom of God.
Amen
Forgive us, your people, O Lord,
because, again and again, we have
misunderstood your grace,
misinterpreted your gospel
and misrepresented your glory,
and so have brought pain and shame
on our fellow human beings.
Forgive us for our history of violence
toward our neighbour, who is different,
and open our eyes instead
to the beauty of your likeness in every person,
without whom we cannot truly see Christ,
who is our only hope and our true salvation.
Amen
You are welcome to use or reproduce these prayers, using the credit line ‘prayers by Martyn Payne by permission of BRF (www.brf.org.uk)’.
Find out about our daily online prayers and also how to pray for our work.
