2014 South-North (North-South) Joint Prayer
for Peace and Reunification on the Korean Peninsula
God of Love!
It has been 25 years since we agreed to keep the week of Independence Day as a joint prayer week with the wish of reconciliation, and peace and reunification of the Korean Peninsula. It was a promise from the South and North Korean churches’ deep prayer to God for peace and reunification and was a vow of love in a very difficult time. We, however, still have not reached full liberation and still are experiencing conflict and hostile policies. Oh Lord! Have mercy on us.
God of the Road!
You know our suffering and pain at the division of our people. Lord, the road of reconciliation and peace, created by the life and devotion of many people, has been blocked. A high barrier of division is again being built up by people who don’t want reunification. The door of joint economic cooperation into Kaeseong has been shrinking and we cannot be sure when the pathway of reconciliation through Mt. Keumkang will open again. All sky access, waterways and railways have been blocked. Lord, we are afraid of today’s reality. Oh Lord, help us be against the injust, and open the way of peace and reunification.
God of Truth!
When we look back at this long and painful reality, you convince us that the way for sincere reconciliation and peace and reunification is coming together in exchange and cooperation based on mutual understanding, and opening military and political barricades with mutual trust. “For he is our peace” (Ephesians 2:14). The Lord of the Resurrection sent peace to all people through the love of the Cross. Lord, let the ceasefire agreement, which was not made by our will, be discarded immediately and let the war finally be ended through a peace treaty. Break the influence of darkness and injustice which tries to dominate the world by force and power, and let us all walk the way of service, sharing, love and truth.
God of Life!
We want to be a lighthouse for peace in East Asia and the world to light the peace of the world. Lord, let us put an end to the military culture of plunder, domination and death that has been made by the strong. Let us build the history of life through your love. Let those confess their sin who unjustly dominate, threatening the powerless and taking the lives of others, and let them do justice again by returning all that they have exploited. Accordingly, let the South, the North, and all Christians of the world pray, “God of life, lead us to justice and peace”, and let us come to the Lord who calls us as the apostles of peace.
Oh Lord, let the churches of South and North Korea make every effort to work for peace and reunification, praying together now more than ever. In the near future, let us hear the Gospel of reunification which will be to us a 2nd liberation. You are the love, truth, and life. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
August 15, 2014
The National Council of Churches in Korea Korean Christian Federation