Songfacts®:

• Reba explained the background to this song. "Every time I watch the news, I'm just waiting for a story with a happy ending," she said. "Unfortunately you don't see those stories very often. I find myself praying for peace, and a better outcome for the world. 'Pray for Peace' is a song I wrote because I strongly believe in the power of prayer."
• The idea for the song originally came to McEntire in 2013 as she was walking on her place in Gallatin, Tennessee. "For days I'd sing, 'Pray for Peace,' over and over," she said. "It wasn't until several months later did the other parts start to fall in place. Some, not until we got into the studio to record it."
  
  "I feel this song is a gift from God," McEntire added. "I have never worked on a song as long as this one. It went from a bass drum, fiddle and singers to guest artist singing with me, adding more instruments and even a choir and a bagpipe!"
  
  "It's an act of perseverance, prayer, hope, fellowship and mostly love," she concluded.
• According to the singer's friend and fellow Country star Ronnie Dunn, McEntire released the video online via Facebook because "no record label knew what to do with it."
• The song's music video features over 50 fan submission videos, as well as appearances by Kelly Clarkson, Ronnie Dunn and Caroline Kole.
  
  After the clip's release, various celebrities including Amy Grant, Keith Urban, Nicole Kidman and The Band Perry posted their own "Pray for Peace" visuals in support of McEntire's message.
• The lyrics were divinely inspired. "My front yard is my church. That's where I talk to God and pray, and I walk and look at the beautiful things He's created, McEntire told Taste of Country. "And so 'Pray for Peace' came to my mind. So I started praying for peace. A lot of things were going on at the time around the world that were really disturbing."
  
  "Then a month or two later, I asked, 'Lord, what do you have in mind for me? What's my next project?'" she added. "And then He said, 'Why don't you pray for peace?' And that thought came to my mind, and I said, 'I've been doing that.' So I kept praying for peace. Then later, I kept thinking, 'Pray for peace, pray for peace.' Then a month or two later, He told me I should record it."