We call upon you Prince of Peace, Savior and King. We confess that you are all powerful and all present, great and gentle, firm and forgiving, holy and healing. You who created us and sustains us, who call us to live in peace and love, hear our prayer. And for hearing our prayer, we thank you.

We remember all who have died in fields of war, those whose hearts were known to you alone.

We remember their loved ones, those left to finish their lives without the company of their beloved lost to war. Meet them in their remembrance and bring them a special sense of your peace.

Create in Your people, in us, a longing for a time when the promised words of Isaiah who said that you, our Lord will once and for all “settle disputes among the nations and provide arbitration for many peoples. They will turn their swords into plows and their spears into pruning knives. Nations will not take up the sword against other nations, and they will never again train for war.” (Isaiah 2:4)

Help us remember our baptisms, that this world you are re-making through the resurrection and ascended Christ is beginning now. And even now we are called to lay down the arms of war and turn our swords into ploughshares for a harvest of justice and peace.

Hear our prayer this Memorial Day weekend, and in your mercy answer us and convict our hearts as we call upon you, our Prince of Peace, Savior and King, Jesus our Lord, amen.