Interfaith Day of Prayer – Prayer from Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb

Heavenly Father, our creator, who breathed into us the breath of life, we ask you to give us the needed strength to continue our journey even when we feel a shortness in breath, fatigue, and suffocation under stifling pressures. Teach us the art of breathing, especially when we feel that the marathon is too long and the path too thorny. Help us to see your thoughts and plans for us.

O child of Bethlehem, Emmanuel, God with us, who in your eternal wisdom chose to incarnate in Bethlehem, Palestine, to take on our flesh, fragility, and vulnerability, we thank you for being near us wherever we are today. We thank you for being our healer, who went throughout Palestine healing the sick and lifting up those left behind. We thank you for all the healers of today, the doctors, nurses and caregivers who are working tirelessly risking their lives so that others may live. In this time of pandemic, we pray for all the sick, especially those suffering from COVID 19.

O Holy Spirt, who sustains us at all times, helps us to survive and thrive. We ask that you pour onto us the needed power, creativity and resilience. We pray for all those economically affected by the pandemic, for all who have lost their livelihoods, businesses and incomes. We pray that they may recover and dare to start anew.

While states and countries are building walls of separation and promoting segregation in the name of security and self-protection, open our eyes in this time of a global pandemic, to recover our common humanity, dignity and equality. Grant us the vision to dare to imagine a different future and the will to build a better world where all can flourish and have life abundantly. Amen.

Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb

Palestinian Christian, pastor, educator, social and political justice activist, peace activist, theologian, founder of Diyar Consortium, and co-author of Kairos Palestine.