Prayers for Reconciliation

Contemplatively read through the whole chapter of Isaiah 59 and listen for the phrase or sentence that speaks to you. I would then ask you to write a prayer for reconciliation based on that phrase.

Dear Lord,

My standoffish attitude toward my Aboriginal Brothers and Sisters has been sinful. I have hobbled justice and your righteousness; I have been unwilling to be authentically engaged in learning about or exploring how to redress the wrongs done to your struggling people. My fear and shame have prevented me from looking Aboriginals directly in the eye. I fear their reprisals. I cringe in shame considering my/our history with them, and how I have harmed them. May this confession be the first step in publicly releasing the truth to do its purifying work, replacing my apathy, and reconciling our people. 

—Paul

Dear God,

Forgive my indifference and forgetfulness when it comes to the genocide inflicted by my ‘great’ tradition on Indigenous peoples. The very land I live on, the freedoms I experience, have come at a great cost to my aboriginal brothers and sisters, and I do not count that cost. When I look at that cost, even briefly, I am overwhelmed by the enormity of the injustices that have been done in the name of my faith, and by people of my colour. Where do I begin? I pray for a more sensitive heart to the ongoing struggles of people who have had their lives and culture disrupted by residential schools. I pray that all the unmarked graves are found, and that we grieve for the lives lost through neglect and incredible discrimination. I pray for a genuine process of reconciliation in our land that continues until it is enough. May I know deeper the stories that have been written and told of those who’ve come before me here in this place on the prairies and beside the lakes. May the Great Spirit bring forth new connections, new relationships, that help to heal the rift. I realize it is not something that is done overnight, and it is not done just with human effort or reason, but that we need supernatural help in forging a greater commonwealth of God here on earth. May Watershed be filled with the light of reconciliation so we can some day be a beacon of hope for others. But above all, may we learn to listen with open hearts and minds, and may my indifference and forgetfulness recede into the past. In your great mercy.

— Lyle

Lord, forgive us our sins towards our Indigenous brothers and sisters, and help us tikkun olam, repair the world and bring shalom to all.

— Arthur 

Isaiah 59:1

Listen! The LORD’s arm is not too weak to save you, nor is his ear too deaf to hear you call. (New Living Bible)

See, the LORD’s hand is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. (New Revised)

Dear God and dear lost and forgotten little ones: 

Forgive us for keeping our hands close to our chest. That was out of self-protection and the misguided idea that we needed to distance ourselves from your pain in order to maintain control. 

Forgive us for not hearing or seeing you. We, as a people, bought into the pride of superiority that led to silencing your cries of desperation and as a result the memories of our collective sin was dulled into silence which led to more harm. 

On our own, we really have nothing to offer you. 

If you will let us, may we stand with you in accepting help from the loving hand of Nohtawi and Nikawi God. (Father & Mother in Cree). Help to reach out and help to hear in ways that heal us both. 

Dear God make us one family, one tribe, and bring us all home, only in your time and only in your way.

Thank you Great Kitchimanito (Cree for God)

— Bev

As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord. Isaiah 59:21

We have broken our covenant with you and with each other, God, but you have not broken covenant with us. When we stop and see what we’ve done, we grieve, and it is but a fraction of the sorrow you feel for our betrayal, our violence, our arrogance. But despite everything we’ve done and continue to do, you promise the gift of your accompanying Spirit who will not rest until things are made right, who is always hovering close, who is always ready to put words of healing in our mouths. We are humbled by this gift and ask for a vision of how to walk this road of peace. 

— Eldon

We can't feel the pain deep enough because it is not ours. But it is yours.  Please let your children know that you are behind them, that you are in the deepest place with them.  Open up cracks in our armor so that our hearts can soften, and stand with our neighbors in their pain, and in their lives. If we fail as friends, be the Friend who doesn't fail. Spring the captives free. Don't let the next seven generations despair, but stir new creation with liberty and healing that comes only from your Spirit as their breath.  

Dwell intimately with your children, and let Jesus come to them through the birch tree and the lake. Break their chains, break our chains. amen.

— Marilyn

Therefore justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not overtake us;
we hope for light, and behold, darkness,
and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
We grope for the wall like the blind;
we grope like those who have no eyes;
we stumble at noon as in the twilight,
    among those in full vigor we are like dead men.

Isaiah 59:9-10

Dear God, 

We have chosen ignorance and our own comfort over the well-being of all. I confess that most times I do not even consider how I indulge my privileges and I turn a blind eye to the suffering of others who pay the price for my comforts. Open my eyes and ears that I might see more truthfully and to take even small steps of repentance in line with your will. I pray that you would bring a spirit of healing and reconciliation, that we might move towards your deeper vision of a wholeness that gathers all. In your mercy.

— Verda

They hatch adders’ eggs, and weave the spider’s web; whoever eats their eggs dies… Isaiah 59:5

God, I wonder who the “they” is in this verse. Is it the religious leaders who were so blinded by the myth of progress that they failed to see the face of God in their Indian brothers and sisters? In hindsight, it’s easy to see that they wove poisonous webs of untruth and because their whole community did so, they thought it must be ok and ignored any whispers of doubt within. Our hearts break when we see the injustices done.

But God, I’m afraid I too have my eyes blinded by my own biases. I often prefer not to have my comfort disturbed. I’ve benefitted from “progress” without thinking twice about the cost. I too have had community bias, seeing only what my community sees and missing Your justice. (How is it that I’ve only learned of colonialism in very recent years?!)

Forgive me for not seeing the world as You see it. Forgive me when I’ve not seen Your face in everyone I meet. Not one of us can survive without Your grace. I pray for a renewal of moral conscience and prophetic courage, and to be awake when I hear Your voice. Help us figure out how to walk the road of peace. Come like a pent-up stream and heal us, especially the residential school survivors. Thy kingdom come. 

— Lydia

The Lord looked and was displeased
that there was no justice.
He saw that there was no one,
he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;
so his own arm achieved salvation for him,
    and his own righteousness sustained him. Isaiah 59:15b-16

Gracious parent of all creation,

As your representatives we have been the ones who failed to stand for justice. We were apathetic and were not available to intervene. I, personally have benefited while my brothers and sisters have suffered. I have been impatient with the generational results of grief, and have failed to understand the extent of loss and pain. Thank you that you will not fail to intervene, and that even now the injustices are being revealed in the broken bodies of your sons and daughters. Help me to be receptive to learning a new language and a restorative way of living. May the truths and languages that have been stolen be practiced once again and be enlivened by your spirit to be instruments of healing.

— Penny

As for me,” God says, “this is my covenant with them: My Spirit that I’ve placed upon you and the words that I’ve given you to speak, they’re not going to leave your mouths nor the mouths of your children nor the mouths of your grandchildren. You will keep repeating these words and won’t ever stop.” God’s orders. Isaiah 59:21 (Message)

Prayers for First Nations people :

Justice will be served. You will be fought for. You've been mistreated and it was wrong that this happened. Your past has been redeemed. Every child matters, every ancestor has a name and will be remembered. Future generations will be free from this pain and this hurt. This is my sacred promise to you.

Side note: 

A lot of the unmarked graves were in the news when my friend texted me that a little first Nations boy was found at a local burger place. He has become a little bit of a picture in my mind as a spokesperson for the group. So I said a little prayer for him as well: 

Prayers for the boy at Burgers Plus.... that he would be safe, that someone would be looking for him and he would be protected, treasured and loved. Praying he would know his value and his belovedness and that his family would know how to love him and prepare him for his future. May he experience the kindness of strangers in the journey. 

— Mel

“For our transgressions before you are many, and our sins testify against us. Our transgressions indeed are with us, and we know our iniquities.”

Isaiah 59:12

All truth is your truth and I’m glad more truth is coming to light on the way my people have treated Indigenous peoples. I’m sorry for how I’ve stayed ignorant because of apathy and shame. Forgive me for misguided efforts to help in the past that were driven more by a need to get rid of my shame than for what was needed. Thank you for your healing Spirit that works mysteriously in all our interactions and continues to open our eyes to what is there and what is needed. I pray for your healing balm for the inter-generational pain in Indigenous families. I pray for humility to listen and follow Your Spirit towards reconciliation. I pray that the hearts of ordinary Canadians may be opened towards seeing Indigenous people as fellow Canadians and that we may find a way forward characterized more by shalom than shame. Amen

— Linda

Back to Article