Guide the Nations

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, guide, we beseech thee, the nations of the world into the way of justice and truth, and establish among them that peace which is the fruit of righteousness; that they may become the Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen. (Boldface type indicates responses.) 469 O Father of all men, we pray for the realization of brotherhood among the nations, a brotherhood rooted in thy Fatherhood. May each nation find its own freedom in giving itself to world comradeship, and in rendering service to the good of all: Hear our prayer, O Lord.

Unite all peoples of the world in an order of peace. Destroy the influences which create bitterness and division. Purge diplomacy and commerce of all that is base and mean, and hasten the day when nation shall not lift up sword against nation, nor learn war any more: Hear our prayer, O Lord.

O thou whose service is perfect freedom, loosen, we beseech thee, the fetters of the hindered races of the earth; deliver them from galling bonds and heal their wounds. May their rights and liberties be protected by the great nations of mankind; and grant that each tribe and people, freed by justice to do justly, and by mercy to be merciful, may find its soul in the unity of love, and do its part in thy world family: Hear our prayer, O Lord. Save the world from unholy ambition, from the lust of power, and from armed enmity among the nations; and prosper those who seek to check the beginnings of discord and to spread the message of goodwill: Hear our prayer, O Lord.

470 O God of wisdom, what is man that thou art mindful of him? We have boasted of our learning when all of our knowledge is as a grain of sand upon an endless shore.

We inherit the dreams of past ages; the gates of heaven are open to our wings, and through the depths of the sea our message is carried across the floor of the ocean. Treasures of forest and of mountain are our possession, while the forces of the lightning and the cataract do our bidding. We are rich beyond the dreams of ancient kings; we are wise in our own conceit, but we have failed to live by the light of thy word.

We have not cared enough for our brothers to use our knowledge and power for peace and equal justice to all men. We prepare machines for the slaying of our fellows, and we fill our hearts with fears. Stir up in us, O Lord, a protest against such betrayal of our heritage; quicken within us a deeper sense of our responsibility to others. Forgive us that we made the hope of a dying world the sport of our party politics and, secure in our own false prosperity, turned our ways toward self-seeking.

Remind us of our citizenship in the Eternal City, and make us responsive to a higher wisdom than that of earth. With our increasing knowledge of science, our spirits need far more to be freed from bondage to material gain, lest we destroy others and ourselves. Renew in us our sense of immortality and our ultimate responsibility to thee, in whose name our fathers endured much that we might be free to serve. Amen.