A prayer for justice

God of Compassion

You let your rain fall on the just and the unjust.
Expand and deepen our hearts
so that we may love as You love,
even those among us
who have caused the greatest pain by taking life.
For there is in our land a great cry for vengeance
as we fill up death row and kill the killers
in the name of justice, in the name of peace.
Jesus, our brother,
you suffered execution at the hands of the state
but you did not let hatred overcome you
Help us to reach out to victims of violence
so that our enduring love may help them heal.
Holy Spirit of God,
You strengthen us in the struggle for justice,
Help us to work tirelessly
for the abolition of state-sanctioned death
and to renew our society in its very heart
so that violence will be no more.

Amen.

– Sister Helen Prejean

www.sisterhelen.org

by Jo (Atlanta, GA)

Heavenly Father, I come befor you to ask for mercy on my son. What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? My son is innocent. He did not do any of those things that he was accused of.

I pray for the corrupt police, that they will remove the evil they placed upon my son. I pray for their sorrows as bitter and evil as they are.

Yes, I am bitter, but I am only human. I have come before you Father God to remove my feelings of hatred towards them so that I may be able to focus on You.

I want to forgive as you have forgiven.

I pray that my son walks out of that jail victorious! I pray that you send me the right lawyers who will do their due diligence in representing you in the right way.

I pray for all those sick and shut in. I pray for peace in this world forever more. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

www.praywithme.com

A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. We are called to play the Good Samaritan on life’s road side, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life’s highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. Compassion sees that an edifice that produces beggars needs restructuring. A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth.

Let us pray:

Ever present God, you called us to be in relationship with one another and promised to dwell wherever two or three are gathered. In our community, we are many different people; we come from many different places, have many different cultures. Open our hearts that we may be bold in finding the riches of inclusion and the treasures of diversity among us. We pray in faith.

Amen.

– Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Give us, O God, the vision which can see Your love in the world in spite of human failure.

Give us the faith to trust Your goodness in spite of our ignorance and weakness.

Give us the knowledge that we may continue to pray with understanding hearts.

And show us what each one of us can do to set forward the coming of the day of universal peace.

– Frank Borman

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Prayer for Justice

God, you have given all peoples on common origin.
It is your will that they be gathered together
as one family in yourself.
Fill the hearts of humankind with the fire of your love
and with the desire to ensure justice for all.
By sharing the good things you give us,
may we secure an equality for all
our brothers and sisters throughout the world.
May there be an end to division, strife, and war. 
May there be a dawning of a truly human society
built on love and peace.
We ask this in your name.

Amen.

– Author Unknown

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Prayer for Justice

Grant us, Lord God, a vision of your world as your love would have it: 
a world where the weak are protected, and none go hungry or poor; 
a world where the riches of creation are shared, and everyone can enjoy them; 
a world where different races and cultures live in harmony and mutual respect; 
a world where peace is built with justice, and justice is guided by love.
Give us the inspiration and courage to build it, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

– Author Unknown

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Prayer for Victims and Perpetrators of Injustice

For all those who have fallen victim to hatred and inhumanity, for those loved ones who are left behind to mourn, for the souls of those whose hearts are cold, Lord, hear our prayer. 
For the children who are being born into this world of conflict and violence, for women and mothers who suffer needlessly, Lord, hear our prayer. 
For all those who have been forced into unemployment, who long to return to work, for all those who struggle to support their families, Lord, hear our prayer. 
For the soldiers who are misguided in thinking that their bullets will bring about peace, for those who feel called to conscientiously object to military orders, Lord, hear our prayer. 

For the children who cry in their beds at night and wonder “what have I done?” 
For the mothers and fathers who must try to explain the unexplainable, Lord, hear our prayer. 
For all the children who have died before their time, for the soldiers who allow their uniform to strip them of their humanity, for the healers who are denied the opportunity to use their gifts, Lord, hear our prayer. 
For the redemption of souls of both victim and perpetrator, for those who commit themselves to the forgiveness of sins, Lord, hear our prayer.

Amen.

– Author Unknown 

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Prayer for Justice and Peace 

Eternal Father, You created us in Your own image and likeness, but sin has warped the minds of men and throughout the world there is much injustice and much carelessness of the rights of other people and personal responsibility. 

Lord when You are excluded from the hearts and consciences of men, the inevitable result is that people suffer and Lord, there is much injustice and corruption taking place in our world today, not only in the lives of individuals but also in the corridors of power and the council rooms of many nations.

We pray Lord that You will right all the wrongs that are taking place in our world and vindicate those that are being treated unjustly. Keep us Father from trying to take matters into our own hands for vengeance is your and You will repay – but Lord in your grace and mercy we pray that you would give justice and peace to all those that have been cruelly and unfairly treated by their fellow man and may injustice and carelessness that they have had to endure be the means to draw them into Your saving arms of grace – we ask this in the precious name of the Lord, Jesus. 

Amen 

– Author Unknown 

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Eternal Winter

The dark shadow of space leans over us…
We are mindful that the darkness of greed, exploitation, and hatred
also lengthens its shadow over our small planet Earth.
As our ancestors feared death and evil and all the dark powers of winter,
we fear that the darkness of war, discrimination, and selfishness
may doom us and our planet to an eternal winter.

May we find hope in the lights we have kindled on this sacred night,
hope in one another and in all who form the web-work of peace and justice
that spans the world.

In the heart of every person on this Earth
burns the spark of luminous goodness;
in no heart is there total darkness.
May we who have celebrated this winter solstice,
by our lives and service, by our prayers and love,
call forth from one another the light and the love
that is hidden in every heart.

– Author Unknown

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For Courage to do Justice

O Lord, open my eyes that I may see the needs of others
Open my ears that I may hear their cries;
Open my heart so that they need not be without succor;
Let me not be afraid to defend the weak because of the anger of the strong,
Nor afraid to defend the poor because of the anger of the rich.
Show me where love and hope and faith are needed,
And use me to bring them to those places.
And so open my eyes and my ears
That I may this coming day be able to do some work of peace for thee.

Amen.

– Alan Paton

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