A prayer for world peace does not need to be long. It needs to be said. On this page you find the short prayer we use on Sundays, seven peace prayers from different traditions, and a simple way to pray them in eight minutes, alone or together with people all over the world.
The short version: choose one prayer below, sit down at 8 PM on Sunday wherever you are, say it slowly, then stay in silence until the eight minutes are over. That is the whole practice of Cosmic Peace Prayers.
The Cosmic Peace Prayer
This is the prayer we return to every week. It is written to be spoken by anyone, in any tradition or none.
May there be peace in the cosmos.
May there be peace within me.
May there be peace here and now.May our intention travel beyond distance.
May peace become real through us.
The German original is even shorter: Friede im All, Friede in mir, Friede im Hier. Peace in the universe, peace in me, peace right here. It moves from the widest circle to the closest one, which is where peace actually begins.
Seven prayers for peace from world traditions
People have prayed for peace for as long as they have prayed. The texts below are short enough to learn by heart. Where a prayer comes from an older language, the English is our own rendering.
Christian: the Peace Prayer (attributed to St. Francis)
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me bring love.
Where there is offence, let me bring pardon.
Where there is discord, let me bring union.
Where there is error, let me bring truth.
Where there is doubt, let me bring faith.
Where there is despair, let me bring hope.
Where there is darkness, let me bring your light.
Where there is sadness, let me bring joy.
The prayer is known everywhere as the Prayer of St. Francis, but it was first printed in 1912 in a small French magazine, La Clochette, without an author. It is nevertheless one of the most widely prayed peace prayers in the world. The rendering above follows that French text. The full prayer, with its second part and its history, is on our page about the Prayer of St Francis.
Jewish: Oseh Shalom
Oseh shalom bimromav, hu ya'aseh shalom aleinu, v'al kol Yisrael, v'imru amen.
May the One who makes peace in the high places make peace for us and for all Israel, and let us say: Amen.
These words close the Kaddish and the Amidah. Many communities today add v'al kol yoshvei tevel, "and for all who dwell on earth".
Muslim: Allahumma anta as-salam
Allahumma anta as-salam wa minka as-salam, tabarakta ya dhal-jalali wal-ikram.
O God, You are Peace, and from You comes peace. Blessed are You, Lord of majesty and generosity.
Many Muslims say this short prayer after each of the daily prayers. As-Salam, Peace, is one of the names of God in Islam.
Hindu: Sarve bhavantu sukhinah
Sarve bhavantu sukhinah, sarve santu niramayah, sarve bhadrani pashyantu, ma kashchid duhkha bhag bhavet. Om shanti, shanti, shanti.
May all be happy. May all be free from illness. May all see what is good. May no one suffer. Om, peace, peace, peace.
The threefold shanti at the end is traditionally understood as a wish for peace from three kinds of disturbance: within ourselves, from the world around us, and from forces beyond our control.
Buddhist: loving-kindness (metta)
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be safe.
May all beings be free from suffering.
May all beings live with ease.
In Pali the core phrase is sabbe satta sukhita hontu, "may all beings be happy". Metta practice starts with oneself, moves to someone we love, then to a stranger, a difficult person and finally all beings.
From the Psalms
Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
Psalm 34:14 (King James Version). Peace here is something to pursue, not only to wait for.
Without religion: an intention for peace
I stop for eight minutes.
I wish peace to the people I love,
to the people I do not understand,
and to the place where I am sitting.
May what I do this week make it a little more real.
If you do not pray, you can still hold an intention. That is enough.
How to pray for world peace in eight minutes
- Arrive (1 min). Sit. Take one slow breath and let the week settle.
- Presence (1 min). Feel your feet, your hands, the light around you.
- A name (1 min). Bring one person to mind and see them clearly.
- Kindness (2 min). Wish them well, then widen the circle: your street, your city, the world.
- Giving (1 min). One long exhale. Offer this goodness outward.
- Silence (1 min). Sit in what remains.
- Closing (1 min). A small thank you: to yourself, to the hour, to the world.
You can say one of the prayers above during step 4, or at the very beginning. The timer on our home page rings a soft bell at the start and at the end, so you do not have to watch the clock.
Looking for something shorter? Our short prayers for peace fit into a single breath, and the prayer for inner peace turns the same wish inward. Once a year, the UN's International Day of Peace on 21 September invites the whole world to pause.
Why every Sunday at 8 PM?
Because a prayer that is shared keeps its shape. Every Sunday at 8 PM local time, whoever joins, whether in Tokyo, Lisbon, Bangkok or New York, pauses for the same eight minutes. As the evening moves from time zone to time zone, the practice travels around the planet like a wave. You never have to convert a time zone: 8 PM where you are is the right moment.
Questions about praying for peace
What is the most famous prayer for world peace?
One of the best-known is the Peace Prayer attributed to St. Francis ("Lord, make me an instrument of your peace"). Other widely used peace prayers are the Jewish Oseh Shalom, the Hindu Sarve bhavantu sukhinah and the Buddhist loving-kindness phrases.
Is there a short prayer for peace?
Yes. "Peace in the universe, peace in me, peace right here." Or simply: "May all beings be at peace." A short prayer said every week does more than a long one said once.
Can people of different religions pray for peace together?
Yes. Interfaith prayer for peace does not ask anyone to give up their own tradition. Everyone prays in their own words at the same time. That is how Cosmic Peace Prayers works.
Does praying for peace change anything?
We make no promises about outcomes. What the practice offers is simpler: eight quiet minutes each week, which can change how you meet the next person. Peace in the world is built from many such moments.
How can I join?
Nothing to sign up for. Be still for eight minutes next Sunday at 8 PM. If you like a reminder, the free Sunday Letter arrives once a week.