Election Season Prayers

Send Thy peace, O Lord, which is perfect and everlasting, that our souls may radiate peace.

Send Thy peace, O Lord, that we may think, act, and speak harmoniously.

Send Thy peace, O Lord, that we may be contented and thankful for Thy bountiful gifts.

Send Thy peace, O Lord, that amidst our worldly strife we may enjoy thy bliss.

Send Thy peace, O Lord, that we may endure all, tolerate all in the thought of thy grace and mercy.

Send Thy peace, O Lord, that our lives may become a divine vision, and in Thy light all darkness may vanish.

Send Thy peace, O Lord, our Father and Mother, that we Thy children on earth may all unite in one family.

hurqalyacenter.org

Community-building God, we join together as diverse people of faith:

People of different beliefs
Different backgrounds
Different ethnicities
Different gender expressions
Different political affiliations

And you make us one. 
Justice-seeking God, give us the courage and strength to reach beyond our differences so that we can find our similarities:

Our desire to care for the earth
Our call to tend to the oppressed
Our respect for the dignity of all your people
Our longing for peace

God of us all, move us to work with you and one another to achieve our mutual goals - your vision of wholeness and peace - even in these days of contention, soundbites, and personal attacks. Give us the courage and strength to put our faith into action. Amen. 

God, we thank you for our great nation.  Thank you for the liberties we have through our Constitution. Thank you for the right to vote. Thank you for giving us the wisdom, discernment and knowledge to vote intelligently.

Despite this God, there have been grievous acts of injustice and unrighteousness in our nation regarding voting rights. That is why we call on you to help us as we stand up against these injustices. We ask you to support our work of resisting the spirits of pride, division, confusion, hatred and deception that have been taken to keep American citizens from voting.

Holy Spirit, help every voter to understand the importance of voting in our elections. Empower our citizens to overcome the barriers that have been set to make voting more difficult in our country, including requiring unnecessary forms of identification and voter fraud. God, turn the hearts of lawmakers, judges, and attorneys towards justice and righteousness. Help them to be fair and not discriminate against others because of party politics and personal agendas. Transform the hearts of those who have created voter suppression laws that will impact students, people of color and older Americans. Help us to reverse actions that have been committed with malicious intent

God, forgive us as a nation for all our sins of injustice. Forgive those who endorse corruption in our political system.  Forgive judges, lawmakers and leaders who are trying to manipulate the election for their own selfish purposes.  Forgive those who have taken the law into their own hands instead of relying upon you to guide them. Forgive those persons who take bribes and give preferential treatment. Holy Spirit, remind us of all those we need to forgive and help us to be quick to forgive. Amen.

socialjusticeresourcecenter.org

Source of All Being, Creator of All Life, may Your goodness find its way into the hearts of all Your children.

May those who wield power do so with a balance of wisdom, justice and compassion. May those who feel powerless remember their intrinsic worth, and also act with a balance of wisdom, integrity and compassion.

May we all feel called to action based on the injustices of racism, and see ourselves not as enemies of one another, not in struggle with one another, but as human beings, created in the image of God, connected to one another’s well-being.

May all of us come to acknowledge the racism that is pervasive in our region and our nation.

May we commit to sitting down with one another in honest dialogue, opening our hearts in compassion to one another, bearing witness to the pain and fear of one another, even if … and especially if … “the other” looks and seems so different from ourselves.

May we commit to joining together in acts of justice that will bring about equality in education, economic opportunities, law enforcement and judicial proceedings.

May each of us come to understand that, ultimately, “my” experience of freedom, justice and peace is inextricably linked to the freedom, justice and peace of every other person in our county and city, our country and our world.  May we open our eyes to the invisible lines of connection that unite us, and with clarity of vision, continue to work for a world where every person’s life is valued, cherished and loved. Amen.

socialjusticeresourcecenter.org

We believe in the divine call to put our faith into action:

Advocating for the vulnerable
Protecting all of creation
Building the beloved community

We commit to God and to humanity to put our faith into action:

By our words and our deeds
Through our money and our labor
In the voting booth and the public square

We challenge ourselves and our neighbors to put our faith into action:

Regardless of election outcomes
Persisting through failures
Confronting injustice in our community and beyond

We will put our faith into action today and in the days to come. Amen.

Challenged and set free to do God’s work in the world, we pray for those in need.

Ultimate One, we come to you with our requests for healing and wholeness, for liberation and for peace. 
In our similarities and in our differences, together we pray.

Divine One, inspire us to work across the aisle for economic justice that all of creation might have shelter, food, security and safety,
In our similarities and in our differences, together we pray.

Infinite One, remind us of your commitment to the dignity and worth of all human beings, no matter our race, culture, ethnicity, age, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, socioeconomic position, or family status.
In our similarities and in our differences, together we pray.

Creating One, compel us to care for this beautiful and fragile earth we call home, and to protect our oceans, skies and lands from the trauma of this current climate emergency.
In our similarities and in our differences, together we pray.

Loving One, arouse us to love peace and justice as we work towards a life free of violence and hatred. Turn us to your way of love in the world. 
In our similarities and in our differences, together we pray.

To you, Source of All, do we commend our prayers, trusting in the transformative power of your beloved community. Amen.

Source of all, we give thanks for the people of faith who join together in the work of justice in our state (world). This work is difficult, and so we need one another. 

As we pray together
engage together
learn together
advocate together
mobilize together
and vote together

May we put our faith into action, trusting that as we do so, we become the beloved community, united in compassion for all of creation. 

Amen.

May all beings everywhere
Plagued by sufferings of body and mind
Obtain an ocean of happiness and joy
By virtue of my merits

May no living creatures suffer,
Commit evil or ever fall ill
May no one be afraid or belittled
With a mind weighed down by depression

May the blind see forms
And the deaf hear sounds
May those whose bodies are worn with toil
Be restored in finding repose

May the naked find clothing
The hungry find food
May the thirsty find water
And delicious drinks

May the poor find wealth
Those weak with sorrow find joy
May the forlorn find hope
Constant happiness and prosperity

May there be timely rains
And bountiful harvests
May all medicines be effective
And wholesome prayers bear fruit

May all who are sick or ill
Quickly be freed from their ailments
Whatever diseases there are in the world
May they never occur again

May the frightened cease to be afraid
And those bound be freed
May the powerless find power
And may people think of benefiting 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.

yowangdu.com

Waheguru.*
May we sit in stillness and be present to this bright pain.
May we let our tears flow.
May we awaken to the truth — that we are only as strong or safe or well as the most vulnerable among us.
May we look upon the faces of others as sisters, brothers, and siblings, and say: You are a part of me that I do not yet know.
May we begin to reimagine a world where we see no stranger, where no person is disposable — and emerge from this pandemic ready to remake the systems that crush us.
May we make revolutionary love a conscious practice in our homes and hearts and in the streets.
May we stay in Chardi Kala — ever-rising spirits even in the darkness, joy even in the suffering — and find the energy to stay in the labor.
For this will be one long labor.
May we breathe and push and begin to birth the world we dream.

*a term used in Sikhism to refer to God

ucc.org