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#ChangeTheHeart 2025 – A Prayer for Peace

BY: Brooke Prentis

#ChangeTheHeart is an annual moment to pause, and to pray, as a nation, being led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Christian Leaders. 

I acknowledge Country, acknowledging over 300 nations of Aboriginal peoples across these lands now called Australia, and paying respects to the Elders, a deep thank you to the Elders, past and present, and an encouragement to the younger generations – the Elders future. 

Aunty Dr Jean Phillips, one of Australia’s most senior Aboriginal Christian Leaders, calls our nation to pray every year on the evening before January 26. Aunty Jean called us to come together in prayer, to come together at the foot of the cross.  Called us from every corner of these lands now called Australia, from across the generations, and across the diverse cultures of Australia’s peoples. The call is for togetherness, for unity in our diversity.  It is here at the foot of the cross we can truly see each other, we can listen to each other’s stories, and we can honour one another.   

My message to the peoples of our nation this year, and every year, was to listen with love and compassion, just as Jesus did and does. Through prayer, with unity in diversity, we participate in Reconciliation, take action against injustice, and pray for change. It is through the cross, through the Gospel, through Jesus, we will have healing. Healing that embraces the truth, sees injustice turn to justice, and experiences love flowing in abundance without conditions or boundaries.

This is #ChangeTheHeart. May there be peace in Australia and in the world. This was the

A Prayer for Peace

written by Brooke Prentis

Great Creator Spirit, Lord God, Papa, Jesus,
We pray for peace across these lands now called Australia.
We pray for peace and ask you to answer the cries for peace from
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples – cries that echo across
two centuries.


We pray for peace and for non-Indigenous peoples of all cultures and all
faiths to respond to the calls of the peoples of the world’s oldest, living,
continuing cultures – calls for truth, justice, and love.


We pray for peace in the knowledge there can be no peace without
Reconciliation, and no Reconciliation without truth, justice, and action.
We pray for peace and for all to hear your command that we must love
our neighbour as ourself.


May that love bring an end to poverty and injustice, an end to inequality
and inequity, and an end to racism and discrimination.
May your love, bring peace.
Amen


Brooke Prentis, GAICD, CA, BCom, BA, Grad Cert Theology, a Wakka Wakka woman, is a prominent Aboriginal Christian leader and one of Australia’s few Indigenous Chartered Accountants. With over 15 years of senior corporate experience and multiple firsts, including being the first Aboriginal CEO of a national Christian organisation, Brooke is a trailblazer in governance, reconciliation, and justice. She is a writer, speaker, and educator, fostering relationships across Australia and advocating for an Australia built on truth, justice, love, and hope.


A #changetheheart spot aired on GOOD Saturday evening January 25 and is now available on the GOOD app. Search for #changetheheart25.