Weekly Prayers

World News in Prayer- Thursday, October 15, 2020

1 Thessalonians 5: 1 – 3

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they say, ‘There is peace and security’, then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape!

* Writer’s note: The writer to the Church in Thessaloniki was writing to a people who had thought the Roman empire would bring peace and security, but had found events turned out very differently. I reflect, Creator God, on my mother’s response to unexpected events. Her generation had, in the previous decade, lived through the 1939-45 war, supposedly the war to end all wars. So news of earthquake, volcanic eruption and armed conflicts sent her into fear that the world would dissolve in nuclear disaster.

What is it, Creator God, about humanity that we consistently desire peace but in our own image? We cannot seem to learn to live in your security, with a peaceful mind among disastrous events knowing that you have us engraved upon the palm of your hand.

There is a jumble of such thoughts and news in our minds at present, as we struggle to disentangle human engagement from natural disasters; otherwise we would be forced to face our own complicity in “natural” events.

We hold before you the floods and lives lost in southern India and wonder why the storm did not spin the other way over the fire on Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. We pray for Hyderabad, India and for the firefighters, residents and students in Tanzania in the area of the National Park; for those threatened by and those fighting the continuing wildfires in California, U.S.A.; for those on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. battered by yet another hurricane.

As tentative talks on the Lebanon/Israel maritime border begin, we await the outcome as it is already blighted by thoughts from Israel that talks are not worthwhile if Lebanon’s economy collapses. We pray for the diplomats in these talks.

Mehbooba Mufti, a former chief minister in Jammu and Kashmir, and other politicians detained by Indian authorities, following the revocation of the region’s autonomy last year, have been released. A year on from India’s scrapping of its agreement over Kashmir land-grabs and rising unemployment, we wonder about Nagorno-Karabakh: are there lessons the world should take there? We pray for the people of Kashmir and Nagorno-Karabakh.

As scientists say the Australian Great Barrier Reef is damaged beyond repair and dead sea life constantly washes ashore in Russia’s Kamchatka province, we pray for the scientists trying to turn the tide of our unwillingness to change our comfortable lives.

We thought pandemics didn’t happen in the modern world. Now, many European countries are returning to full or partial lockdowns and a number of pharmaceutical firms have halted their Covid-19 vaccination trials, and so we pray for all our world. Lord, hear our prayer and let our cry come to you.

Engraved upon my palms, yes, written on my hands in letters spelled out large for all to see, your name is marked forever, will never be removed. I’ll not forget that you belong to me.

As a mother tends her tiny child, I will care for you. You shall never be forsaken, never left alone. I’ll enfold you with my arms of love. I will comfort and surround

I love you with a love far greater than you’ve ever known. Right from the start I held you, I steadied your first steps, I led with cords of love that will not break, I took your hands and guided, I healed you with my touch. know I’ll be with you every step you take.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thurs., October 8, 2020

Editor’s note: World Teachers’ Day has been celebrated internationally on 5 October each year since 1994, commemorating the anniversary of the adoption of the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation Concerning the Status of Teachers, which establishes standards for teacher rights and responsibilities, as well as teacher preparation and support. This year’s theme, “Teachers: Leading in Crisis, Reimaging the Future,” acknowledges the additional challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic for teachers worldwide and seeks to remind us that we must support teachers, protect the right to education, and celebrate the accomplishments of teachers in responding to this current crisis and building the resilience needed to shape the future of education in our world.

A reading from the Psalms, chapter 86, verse 11: “Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart to revere your name.”

And a reading from the Letter to the Colossians, chapter 3 verses 16 to 17: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Wise Teacher, you call us to learn to live in right relationship with one another. Political tensions deepen in places like Kyrgyzstan, where the contested and potentially corrupted results of a recent election have led to violence and unrest, and the United States, where similar violence and unrest have followed in the wake of disordered and inconsistent pandemic responses and racial inequalities.

Teach us to guard our hearts, to use our political and social power on behalf of the powerless and vulnerable, and to treat each other as the beloved children of God that they are.

Just Teacher, you call us to learn to live in right relationship with your creation. Storm Alex has proven deadly in the face of heavy rains and flash floods in south-eastern France and north-western Italy, yet so many of us refuse to acknowledge the ways our behavior affects the climate of this world we call home. The Pacific waters along the shore of Kamchatka, Russia, are so polluted that the water is discolored and dead sea life washes onto shore every day, but so many of us fail to connect our well-being and our very survival with good stewardship of the environment.

Teach us to tend your garden in the way you intend for us, with selflessness, love, and deep gratitude.

Loving Teacher, you call us to learn to live in right relationship with you. Open our eyes to see you in the faces of those who suffer, including mentally-ill children in Nigeria who are being discovered after years of abuse and neglect by their parents, the hundreds of Myanmar children who have been driven into illegal work in the seafood industry after the closure of migrant learning centers in the southern province of Ranong, and the impoverished millions who face starvation as the human-made famine in Yemen enters its fifth year.

Teach us to number our days, to understand who we are to whom we belong, so that we might apply our hearts, hands, and voices with wisdom.

Patient Teacher, you call us to learn, to teach, and to grow in our faith in you and in our love for others. Teach us respect and honor you, fill our hearts with the word of Christ, form us so that whatever we do, in word or deed, we might do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thurs., Oct. 1, 2020

O God, why are you silent? I cannot hear your voice;
the proud and strong and violent all claim you and rejoice;
you promised you would hold me with tenderness and care.
Draw near, O Love, enfold me, and ease the pain I bear.
Marty Haugen/ Tune: Herzlich mich verlangen

O God, O Love, sometimes in these difficult days, it feels like you are both silent and absent. All around us in this world of ours, in this world of yours, there is pain and suffering, confusion and violence. It seems like the forces of evil are triumphing over good; seems like despair is winning out over hope. And yet, to whom else shall we go, Holy One? Who else will hear our prayers with love and compassion? Who else will understand our pain and hold us tenderly?

Through endless nights of weeping, through weary days of grief,
my heart is in your keeping, my comfort, my relief.
Come, share my tears and sadness, come, suffer in my pain,
oh, bring me home to gladness, restore my hope again.

It is because you love and understand that we can pray for this world and its peoples. And so we pray for the disabled people in India – most of whom are Dalits, the untouchables- who, especially during this coronavirus pandemic, are struggling to obtain the basic necessities of life: food, medical care, housing.

We pray for the people of Armenia and Azerbaijan where fighting has once again erupted over control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

As Covid-19 deaths worldwide reach one million, we pray especially for the people of Israel, Spain, Brazil, England, and Scotland, where an upsurge of the virus is causing more closures in response to increased cases and deaths.

We pray for the people of Rwanda, as- at long last- one of the long-time genocide suspects, Felicien Kabuga, is being extradited so he can be brought to justice for his role in the 1994 genocidal murders of nearly one million people.

We pray for the tens of thousands of women who continue to be raped in India each year, and for the work of activist and advocate Yogita Bhayana, as she works with survivors and provides a voice for them in court and with the government.

We pray for the protestors in Venezuela, as anger mounts over fuel shortages (with people waiting in lines for a long as 13 hours) and shortages of safe drinking water, while the government does little or nothing to provide assistance.

We pray for those in the United States dealing with the numerous wildfires in the West, with the results of the increasingly-strong hurricanes along the Gulf and East coasts, even as many leaders continue to deny the reality of climate change and its effects upon our planet.

Yet, despite the sadness and discouragement, we can joyfully pray for 7-year-old Cavanaugh Bell, who set up a GoFundMe page to raise funds and supplies to take trailers filled with COVID-19 supplies to the South Dakota Pine Ridge Reservation (one of the poorest places in the U.S.) because “they need things there.” May we be led to follow where a little child leads us- to a place of caring and hope and help.

May pain draw forth compassion, let wisdom rise from loss;
oh, take my heart and fashion the image of your cross;
then may I know your healing through healing that I share,
your grace and love revealing, your tenderness and care.

O God, O Love, even in these difficult days we know that you hear us, that you care, and we ask that your love and compassion and justice may be incarnated in us, as we go about the work of healing your world and all its peoples, to work for the coming of the your Reign on this earth. Let it be so. Amen and amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, September 24, 2020

God of Our Ancestors,

Since before we were born, you have knit your people into a great reimagining of purpose and life. You call us by your mercy and claim us with your truth. Even in these days of protest and pandemic, show us what it means that you are the Creator, Christ, and Comforter. Show us how to believe that you have made each of us in your image. Show us what it means that even now, your kingdom is breaking into the world. Even in these days, show us how to sing and praise and pray to you.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers.

God of Our Present,

In Christ, we recognize our reality as people called to join you in the journey. Teach us how to follow you. Make yourself known to us. Make yourself known to those fighting and fleeing wildfires on the West Coast of the United States, as well as those who are living with the aftermath of devastating flames and red skies of smoke. Make yourself known to those grappling with COVID-19, whether they are at home or in hospital beds, prison cells or nursing homes, science labs or health institutes or non-profit organizations. We give you thanks for those within the African Union, New Zealand, and other regions where communities are collectively, compassionately working so well to contain and curtain the virus in their midst. We pray for guidance for those in the United States, India, Brazil, and Mexico, as they all grapple with severely high mortality rates. This week our heart breaks as the United States pass 200,000 dead. This week also we lift up the family and colleagues of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, after her death in Washington, DC, last week. Shower mercy upon all those who grieve. Be with us in our present moments. Reveal yourself in ways that we might taste and touch and see and hear and know, deep within our flesh and bones.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers.

God of Descendants,

Your story does not begin and end with us. You who loved our ancestors are also preparing the way for our children. Nurture the lives of all young people around the world who are living with the uncertainty of economic prospects, the stress of climate change, the unanswered questions around truths of human dignity. Bring forth in them a new energy for purpose-seeking, meaning-making, and community action, as they lead us forward into the future.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers.

God of Our Every Ending and Beginning,

We pray these things because you have come among us, as human, as Word Made Flesh, as God with us. In Christ, we have been shown the kindness of your touch, the fierceness of your grace, the perseverance of your covenant, the power of your peace. How glorious it is to rise in your grace, to pray in your name, to rest in your Spirit. Thanks be to you, Triune God.

Amen.

World New This Week in Prayer – Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020

“No hands, no feet on earth but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world.
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good.
Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body.”
~ Teresa of Ávila

Dear God,

We are living in a world that is in deep need of your healing power. As we strive to be your hands and feet in a world which is staggering from hurt, pain, loss of life, loss of home, tiredness, and weakness, we need you, God, to hold us up when we have such little strength. You know more than anyone what our bodies look like right at this moment. You know the pain we are going through personally, the pain we feel for our neighbors around the world, the pain we feel for our family and friends who we cannot help. You know, God, what we are going through, and so we ask that as we do your work to show compassion, to reveal love, to help our neighbors, that you will also help us as we need to be filled with your peace just as we reveal your peace to others.

God, as we learn to be your body in the world, we ask for your presence in a world which is being ravaged by natural disasters. We pray for our friends, our family members, and our neighbors in California, Oregon, and Washington, U.S., where fires are devastating the homes, businesses, and lives of all these people. We pray that you might send a healing balm to quench this burning earth.

As a particularly harsh hurricane season continues, we pray for all of our people around the world who are in the path of so many hurricanes that are about to hit as well as those that are yet to come. We pray, God, that as we find ways to assist our neighbors that are in their paths, may they prove to hurt fewer of your beloved people, and may you be a shield of protection to them.

We pray for all of our friends and communities in Israel where so many feel unheard, and where injustices continue to hurt so many. We pray that peace may abound someday and all will be treated with dignity and love regardless of who they are. As violence continues in so many parts of the world, we pray that there are fewer casualties. May we find our own peaceful ways of fighting for justice for the poor and those without privilege.

As Covid-19 continues to ravage our world, with 29 million people around the world having been diagnosed and the global death toll being about 925,000, we see a world which is continually breaking. As we recognize that the numbers are likely much higher than this, we also recognize that so many other pieces of our lives have been devastated by this virus. As poverty increases and illness of all kinds continue to become worse due to loss of jobs and lack of healthcare, we also recognize the aid that is not going to countries that desperately need it. We pray for our neighbors in Yemen where aid cuts have devastated our neighbors there. As malnutrition doubles there, may you be with your beloved people who are in great need of food and supplies.

God, help us to be the hands and feet. Although it may seem that there is little we can do to make a difference, help us to start now.. Teach us to find ways to nurture and help those who need your healing. Grant us the wisdom to find a way to be your body in a broken and hurting world. While we may feel we can never do enough, help us to do what we can with what little time we have on this earth. Although we recognize we will never be perfect, teach us that by even doing the smallest of acts, we are spreading your love to your dearest children who need it most.

In your name we pray,
Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, September 10, 2020

May you be well,
And all whom you love,
And those you work with,
And all who eat of the crops you handle.

That has been my prayer/mantra at least one afternoon a week for the past month, as I joined with other volunteers to prepare 100,000 Covid-19 prevention kits to be given to agricultural workers in this part of California (U.S.). One washable cloth mask, one small bottle of hand sanitizer, several small multi-lingual instruction cards in each zip lock bag. One bag, one prayer. Fifty completed bags in each box; another prayer. Looking at the stacks and stacks of boxes ready to be delivered to the agencies who will pass the kits out; another prayer.

For all who face the risk of Covid-19, or extreme heat, or smoke, or drought, or flooding in order to feed themselves and others; for all who work in the fields, and harvest the seas, and nurture the livestock; for all who gather and transport and package and prepare the food we eat; for all who have barely enough food to survive, and those who don’t know where their next meal is coming from, and those for whom mealtime is a feast of abundance:

May you be well,
And all whom you love,
And those you work with,
And all who share in the fruits of the planet.

It is so, so hard to pray for those who want to hurt us or endanger the lives of those we love. The Russian and Chinese (and probably other) agencies using social media to foment unrest and influence elections in other countries. Whoever started QAnon, and all the social media and dark web sites that are allowing its conspiracy theories to spread. United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his government, who have threatened to override elements of the Brexit withdrawal agreement with the European Union – even though that would violate international law. The Niger army that, instead of protecting civilians, has now been accused by Niger’s human rights commission of executing dozens of civilians during counterinsurgency operations.

Countries treating dissent as treachery: China, arresting people in Inner Mongolia who protest against the edict that Chinese language textbooks must replace Mongolian language ones; opposition leaders in Belarus who have been terrorized, detained, and threatened with deportation.

United States President Donald Trump, who has made more than 20,000 lies or misleading comments during the past 15 months – including, it has now been proven this week, lying repeatedly about the severity of the Covid-19 pandemic, and repeatedly denigrating those who serve in the U.S. armed forces. And U.S. legislators who have failed to extend financial relief to the millions who have lost their jobs due to Covid-19 and are now facing eviction and homelessness. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro giving in to international pressure to protect the rainforest against fires by imposing a 120-day ban on fires and deploying the army to badly-hit areas – while simultaneously declaring the fires a lie.

It is so, so hard to pray for them. And yet, it is like watching a teenager engaging in a risky activity despite everything you can do to dissuade them: you hope, and hope, and hope they will come to their senses before anyone gets hurt. Despite being terrified and furious, despite the desire to lock them in their room without privileges until they turn 30 (at least), still you pray for them to escape the worst consequences of their rash actions.

And so we pray for all governments and corporations and individuals who are endangering lives, and for those whose lives are endangered:

May you be well,
And all whom you govern,
And those who rule over you,
And all who must choose ways to live together in mutual benefit.

In California, Oregon and Washington (U.S.), the skies are orange, the sun invisible, and smoke and ash from the 56 major wildfires currently burning over 3.7 million acres is making the air unhealthy to breath; thousands have been evacuated. Greece is struggling to find shelter for the 13,000 migrants who had been living in the overcrowded Moria camp on the Island of Lesbos, until it was destroyed by fire earlier this week. Sudan is trying to protect its 2,300-year-old pyramids in Meroe from unprecedented flooding by the River Nile, which has also made thousands homeless. Yet, experts have known for at least 20 years how to manage forests and grasslands to prevent massive wildfires. We know how to treat migrants with dignity and safety. We have learned how to restore wetlands and floodplains to mitigate flooding. We are learning how to plant and farm in order restore depleted groundwater and break the cycle of desertification.

For those who are fighting natural disasters; for those waiting to hear if their homes have survived, for those living in fear, and those wondering how they will once again find the strength to start over; for those whose warnings and advice have been ignored, and those who know what to do but not how to rally massive support and resources:

May you be well,
And all whom you want to protect,
And the earth that we cherish.

Several well-known figures died this week. Chadwick Boseman, the U.S. movie actor who starred as Black American icons Jackie Robinson and James Brown, and inspired audiences worldwide as the regal Black Panther, died at age 43. Through him, many Black children for the first time were able to see themselves as strong, beautiful, worthy, and able to change the world. English actress Dame Diana Rigg, who starred in Game of Thrones and as Countess Teresa di Vicenzo, wife of James Bond, died at age 82. But it was her role as Emma Peel in the original Avengers that led a whole generation of young women to imagine themselves as bright, inventive, funny, and powerful against evil. Top South African human rights lawyer George Bizos died at age 92. He represented some of the country’s best-known political activists during the apartheid years, including defending Nelson Mandela, and became one of the architects of South Africa’s new constitution.

And then there are the living heroes whom virtually no one has heard of. In Nigeria, math teacher Basirat Olamide Ajayi came up with a way to help 12th graders prepare for crucial final exams despite the Covid-19 school closures, by offering free, 5-minute video classes online via Twitter, WhatsApp and Instagram. She now has more than 1,800 students – and not only from Nigeria. Also in Nigeria, Anthony Mmesoma Madu, an 11-year-old male ballet dance student in a country where ballet is almost unknown, won the hearts of the world after a video of him dancing in the rain went viral. This week, he was awarded several scholarships to continue his studies in the United States, and his teacher, self-trained Daniel Ayala, also received a scholarship for a two-week intensive U.S. training program for ballet teachers. In Sweden, a secret group of artists is sneaking stunning miniature installations for mice into public spaces in the dead of night. The clandestine collective ― called Anonymouse ― has installed 25 pieces*, mostly in cellar windows, across Sweden, in France and on the Isle of Man. In Jerusalem, Israel, hospitals are enlisting those who recovered from Covid-19 and are antibody positive, to visit hospitalized patients who would otherwise be in isolation. In Singapore, two mothers who lost sons to suicide have started the PleaseStay movement, urging a national strategy to address youth mental health and suicide, to break the taboo against talking about these topics, and – most poignantly – to urge troubled teens and youngsters, to “please stay.”

For all heroes, alive and dead, great and small; for the hope they give us; for those whom they inspire:

May you be well,
And all whom you help,
And all whom you inspire,
And all who gladly enliven the world.

For all of who you read, and share, and pray these prayers:

May you be well,
And all whom you love,
And the great, wonderful, terrifying and awesome world you surround with your prayers.

Amen.

*Ok, we can’t resist: here’s a website where you can enjoy some of Anonymouse’s creations: https://www.instagram.com/anonymouse_mmx/?utm_source=ig_embed

World News in Prayer – Thursday, 3 September 2020

We pray Lord,

We pray some of us on our knees, some hands folded, palms to heart, forehead to ground, some raising a sign in protest, some gritting their teeth and eyes tight shut and others lighting a candle. We pray for your mercy in these tumultuous times, in these times where every shooting raises a collective groan, “not again,” “this will not stop, when?” families torn from loved ones – gone with the discharge of a weapon. Gone, over and over and still we see the news sorrowing through death, fire, loss, loss, loss….

Lord have mercy. Bring your compassion and comfort. Oh, we grieve.

Silence

For some there is deep sadness. For others anger. For some hatred. Perhaps indifference; resignation; skepticism and denial.

Silence

We grieve for the family and community in south L.A. USA where Dijon Kizzee lived and died on its streets. The county was set to vote on funds for a contract to purchase body cams for its police officers. They are currently not required to wear them.

Sustain us as we gather, sitting at tables and voting, as we march, raise our arms with homemade signs and set candles on a bare sidewalk. Lord have mercy.

Silence

Ninety percent of low- and medium-income countries and even developed countries are having to set aside primary health care services as they address COVID-19. The WHO in its report this week calls attention to the inevitable gap that must be minimized. Lifesaving vaccinations, women’s health care, family welfare home visits, and midwifery services for pregnant women and infants hang in the balance.

Dear Lord we ask that you help us to reconcile the supply chains for essential medicines and health products. Sustain these programs and shepherd funds equitably and swiftly to those most in need. We fear for epidemics and outbreaks – all these words that have become so common in our language.

Lord hear our voices. Amplify our gifts.

Silence

We are grateful for health care workers, strong of will and heart, giving of their years of training. Guide them as they deliver care around the world. In the photo we see Dr. Samreen Khalil, a Polio Eradication Officer with WHO as she collects a sample from Muhammad Shabir at his residence (Pakistan) in order to test for COVID-19.

Encourage, protect and bless them in their often dangerous work.

Silence

Help us to witness the compassion and patience around us. Help us to seek clarity of mind and to let impulses pass, replacing them with wisdom and improved judgement. So much happens in the literal “blink of an eye.” We are continually caught off guard as so much is happening seemingly everywhere in the news. We pray for the people of Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA and now south Los Angeles, California. For those in literal storms and winds way. Help us to not turn off our sense of caring in the face of all of these deep troubles, restore our value that unity and faith are the tinder for our goodness and creative selves. Help us to focus on the simple acts of the heart. Words matter. What we read, write and say, print and broadcast matters. Help us to understand how easily our words can be like stones, our very speech setting forth destruction and killing.

Open our eyes, soften our touch and lessen our anger.

Silence

We give thanks for so many projects throughout the world where people from different countries and skill sets are coming together to provide solutions which help and save lives. We celebrate physicists such as Prof. Jim Black and Roger Rassool’s team making oxygen available in hospitals and clinics throughout the world where electricity supplies are irregular. In Mbarara Hospital, Uganda, child mortality fell by 60% using the FREO2 system. When we do this for the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters, we share your love and compassion.

Silence

Dear Lord, you call us forth when it seems as though there is nothing, nothing we can do in our corner of the world, our little spot, our shelter from the storm. Help us to don our gloves, mask, gown and face shield of tolerance, moderation, restraint, self-control and mercy. We have so many tools and fruits of the spirit. Grow in us a remarkable love that opens, perhaps speaks loudly, listens and even coos. You teach in so many ways as we walk thorough these horrors and calamities, natural and human made.

Help us to discern and forgive, honor and respect, and trust in your Holy Spirit at work among us.

Amen.

Image taken from: https://medpointhealthcare.blogspot.com/2020/09/pakistans-drive-to-restore-essential.html

Copyright WHO/Blink Media – Saiyna Bashir.

World News This Week in Prayer- Thursday, August 27, 2020

Holy One,

As we center ourselves for prayer, remind us that you are as close to us as our very breath, even in these times when you may feel so far away to so many of us; in these times when many of us find it so hard to breathe. You are there with us.

So we begin our time of prayer with three deep breaths. As we breathe in, may we breathe in your peace. As we breathe out, may we breathe out your love.

We lift up prayers of healing for the United States, after months of civil unrest over police brutality and attacks on innocent black lives. We pray especially for Jacob Blake, a black man, who was shot multiple times by police in Wisconsin, and for his children, who witnessed the traumatic assault on their father’s life. We pray, also, for the lives of the protestors who were killed and injured by a white teen with an assault weapon during related protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin. God of Justice, help each of us do our part as we seek to redeem the soul of the United States as it faces the sin of racism.

We continue to pray for the Middle East, where turmoil seems ceaseless. We especially pray for those affected by the airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip, after 11 straight days of bombing. Our hearts are still with Beirut, Lebanon, where explosion survivors are trying to pick up the pieces and rebuild their lives. God of Reconciliation, guide us into new ways of hope and peace.

During this seemingly never-ending global Coronavirus pandemic, we lift prayers for all who are affected, and pray for children who are starting a new school year, for the many stresses on families, and for wisdom for our leaders as they try to determine a way forward. We pray specifically for Spain, as the surge in cases has made it the new epicenter of the virus, and for Brazil, where new cases and deaths continue to rise. God of Grace, help each of us to do our part as we continually seek to slow the spread.

We pray for the Earth, as we face ramifications of climate change and natural disasters in so many parts of the world. We see over one million acres of California, USA, burning with wildfires; we see flash floods killing dozens in Charikar, Afghanistan as they were sleeping. We pray for those in the path of Hurricane Laura, as it has made landfall at the border of Texas and Louisiana, USA, where over 500,000 people evacuated, the storm bringing with it punishing winds and torrential rains. And all of these evacuations in each of these cases are more challenging due to the coronavirus.

Breathing in smoke from wildfires, or from explosions, makes it hard to breathe.

Seeing the lives of innocent people cut short due to prejudice makes it hard to breathe.

Experiencing the fear and loss of a global pandemic is making it hard to breathe.

Fill us with your Holy Spirit that, even now, with tensions high everywhere we turn, we may breathe in Your peace, and breathe out Your love. Help us to breathe, so that we may do the work of healing that is so desperately needed, and that we may find some joy along the way. Amen

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, 20 August 2020

“Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning, for in you I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.” Psalm 143:8

Dearest creator of us all,

It is to you that we lift our souls and our very beings. As we draw near to you in this very moment, we ask that you guide us, that you cover us, that you hold us in the palm of your hand and cover us with your ever present love. It is this that we need as we long for hope. Hope for a world to be more loving to one another, hope that your pure love might cover us both in our celebrations as well as in our mourning.