Praying For Peace in the World: A Waste of Time?

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Belshazzar

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OK, maybe I should have worded this differently, since none of our prayers are time wasted. Still though, there are scriptural references such as Matt. 24: 6 and Rev. 21: 4 that suggest there will be no peace until He comes again. Should all Christians pray to hasten the Lord in His second coming? Or should we just approach world peace one person at a time, as some would suggest? I’m aware that Therese of Lisieux said we should pray and petition the Lord to the point of audacity. And surely the Divine Mercy of Our Lord could accomplish such as this several worlds over. But is this the will of God, though?

For all I know, there may be a very simple answer to this question. If so, please be charitable with your responses and don’t make me appear to be stupid for asking such a question. I really don’t take sarcasm or insults all that well. I look forward to your feedback. Thank You And God Bless You.🙂
 
I think we should make distinctions.

There’s a type of peace that is simply the absence of violent hostilities.

There’s also the type of peace Christ came to give us: peace between man and God, i.e., individuals existing in a state of grace.

This second sense is especially in conformity with the verses you quoted and with the rest of the New Testament.

In fact, this ties in well with the Little Flower, who sacrificed so much for the conversion of souls.
 
Belshazzar said:
OK, maybe I should have worded this differently, since none of our prayers are time wasted. Still though, there are scriptural references such as Matt. 24: 6 and Rev. 21: 4 that suggest there will be no peace until He comes again. Should all Christians pray to hasten the Lord in His second coming? Or should we just approach world peace one person at a time, as some would suggest? I’m aware that Therese of Lisieux said we should pray and petition the Lord to the point of audacity. And surely the Divine Mercy of Our Lord could accomplish such as this several worlds over. But is this the will of God, though?

For all I know, there may be a very simple answer to this question. If so, please be charitable with your responses and don’t make me appear to be stupid for asking such a question. I really don’t take sarcasm or insults all that well. I look forward to your feedback. Thank You And God Bless You.🙂
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Both those texts have to be read in context.

St. Matthew 24: 6 is about the tribulations that will accompany the end times.
Revelation 21: 4 is about the definitive establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven at the end of time.

Both these texts address a permanent, lasting peace. In that sense, no, there will not be such a definitive peace until the end of the world.

However, there are times of relative conflict and peace. Europe in the Middle Ages was quite different from Europe in the 20th Century, for example. And there are Psalms which speak in favour of being for peace and praying for peace (119; 121*) Besides, one of the Beatitudes is “Blessed are the peacemakers” (St. Matthew 5).

Therefore, while it might be unrealistic to pray for “an end to all wars and conflicts”, we are certainly called to pray for peace in a more local, temporal sense, especially when such conflicts involve the massacre of innocent civilians.
  • the numbering here is from the Douay-Rheims because that’s what I have in front of me right now :); in a modern Bible they’d probably be 120 and 122.
 
**Prayers are good, but actions would be better.
As the world stands ready to incinerate itself, perhaps protocols against enabling that madness might be in order. **
 
I sure can understand why anyone might feel that way, but imagine what the world might be like if no one DID pray for world peace.
 
Belshazzar said:
OK, maybe I should have worded this differently, since none of our prayers are time wasted. Still though, there are scriptural references such as Matt. 24: 6 and Rev. 21: 4 that suggest there will be no peace until He comes again. Should all Christians pray to hasten the Lord in His second coming? Or should we just approach world peace one person at a time, as some would suggest? I’m aware that Therese of Lisieux said we should pray and petition the Lord to the point of audacity. And surely the Divine Mercy of Our Lord could accomplish such as this several worlds over. But is this the will of God, though?

For all I know, there may be a very simple answer to this question. If so, please be charitable with your responses and don’t make me appear to be stupid for asking such a question. I really don’t take sarcasm or insults all that well. I look forward to your feedback. Thank You And God Bless You.🙂
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Hi, I know what you are saying. Had the same question and had a helper of some nuns answer it for me one day… Basically she said…

Praying can be for our benefit as well. When we say every day the Our Father, we are reminded of those words of scripture of what Jesus responded to the quesiion of how we should pray. We say it, we absorb its meaning and therefore reinforce certain ideas/beliefs that put us on the path to God. (So as long as we actually listen to them and not just say them… but even at that, just saying it is better than not because it still reminds us.)

So when we pray for peace in the world, we are reminding ourselves that which is of God- peace and strive to work towards that. It doesn’t mean that there can’t be times of great peace, there can… just that its never going to be perfect as it is in heaven because we live in a fallen world which will continue until Christ comes back. That’s all.

So basically, prayer is for us. Its for our benefit… its also a tool God uses to sculpt us… if we are serious about it, contemplative about what we are saying and true to wanting to serve God, loving God. Prayer is like a conversation in which through your questioning and petitioning we learn who we are- our faults, our strengths, our hopes, our fears… this in turn helps us be who God wants us to be.

I hope this helps.
 
It is no more a waste of time than praying for someone’s bodily wellbeing, knowing that they must ultimately die in any case.

ICXC NIKA
 
esieffe said:
I sure can understand why anyone might feel that way, but imagine what the world might be like if no one DID pray for world peace.
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That’s it a nutshell basically! I think why the world looks the way it does today- the more people don’t actually pray and contemplate God the worse sin becomes- wars, fighting, disagreements… the total opposite of the Kingdom of god. I guess you can say that by praying (and really praying, not just saying) we are doing our part. We are securing this section of army for the battle, being ready like that. … being shod with the shoes of peace.
 
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