A Prayer for Iraq

Gracious God,
   we don’t fully know the details,
   but it appears that an election has happened in Iraq.
There was violence, to be sure,
   but those who would vote
      put aside their fear
      for a deeper belief in self rule.
Now comes the hard part.
Putting together an election is relatively easy
   compared to putting together a nation.
Lord, we place our faith in you,
   the Prince of Peace,
   that somehow,
   someway,
   peace will come.
Be with those who continue to fight.
   Help them to recognize that peace is more powerful than war.
Be with those who continue to build.
   May they build a kingdom of justice
      rather than an nation of power.
Be with those,
   the women,
   the children,
   the old and infirm,
      who are caught in the middle.
   Use their position of weakness,
      and transform it, as you always do,
      into a place of power.
We don’t know the outcome, O God.
   We don’t know what life in that world will look like.
   So help us to deal with the unknown,
      the mystery of cultures other than our own,
      so that we may recognize the spark of you
         that live in all of us.
We pray this in the name of the one who died,
   and conquered fear.
Amen