World in Prayer

World News This Week in Prayer, Thursday, February 13, 2020

Ah, Lord God, our creator, our father.   The world is changing.  Again.

It’s difficult to realize, as I write when the sky is wall to wall blue and a plane suddenly adds a tracery of white, that that interesting line is part of what is changing our world.

As another huge iceberg calves from the Pine island glacier in West Antarctica, as we trace the causes of the desert locust outbreak across South Asia and East Africa we have to admit our world is one ecosystem.

When zoos, such as Chester in the United Kingdom team up with other organizations half a world away, such as nuns protecting axolotl in Mexico, it’s hard to accept that our very interest in a global village doesn’t help protect our whole vulnerable environment.

With the death toll rising and researchers rushing to find a vaccine for the Covid 19 Coronavirus we are concerned that shutting down the economy in China may bring disaster for businesses and nations world wide.

The integration of our vast world has progressed to the point that we cannot imagine how to unravel the threads to this web, the histories, wars and strife and our collective lives.  We confess we have become so used to it that we seem immunized by the fighting in Syria that the news that more people have fled in the last 10 weeks than in the previous 9 years has no effect.   We take news of earthquake and storm and disaster as the daily norm.

Even in this there is good news for you, our Creator and Father, share your graceful gift of creativity with every child.  We hear from the Zaatari camp in Jordan how emergency shelters are recycled and mattresses can be used to grow crops.   Good news might be in short supply in our media and never in your good hands and so we give thanks.  For all the rescuers; all the acts of kindness all that expresses you are our parent.  Praise to you, creator God.

Amen

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, February 6, 2020

Will you love the “you” you hide if I but call your name? —Will you quell the fear inside and never be the same?
Will you use the faith you’ve found to reshape the world around, through my sight and touch and sound in you and you in me?
“The Summons” (Traditional Scottish song, words by John Bell)

Oh Lord, you are speaking to us, calling us through the ages, beyond time itself. We hear your voice through prophets and burning bushes, in the questions of young adults, the roar of wind and singing forest. Help us to listen. Guide us from fear to action. It is such a leap. It​ doesn’t feel possible. We lose our way so quickly. We worship you in a world that worships things, walls, winning and hoarding, fame and notoriety. How do we reconcile famine, epidemics, resistance by leaders, poverty and the turning away of great need? Still you call us. We are listening in this moment.

(silence)

We hold in prayer the East African peoples of Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia where heavy rains in October and November (300% above average) have tipped the scales allowing for swarms of desert locusts to annihilate crops and pastures and farmer’s livelihoods. We pray for the people of Uganda where floods are washing away homes and families. We pray for Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate who is speaking out against racism, suppression and the invisibility in the news of Africa’s climate disruption. Strengthen her resolve and voice.  We are listening.

(silence)

We pray for the peoples of Puerto Rico who devastated by hurricanes, lack of federal support for the restoration of so much infrastructure, and who now suffer through reoccurring earthquakes and aftershocks that are frightening and destructive.  We pray for resources to be brought to bear to improve roads, bridges, homes, schools and water systems.  We are listening.

(silence)

We pray for governments around the world and, particularly in the United States, where divisiveness is at a high. We pray that your peace and justice would lead the way for those governing all your people. We are listening.

(silence)

Mysterious is your work in us — perhaps we don’t have to understand, but just hold on to being grateful. Guide us then in each holy moment, clearing our vision, enlivening our touch, awakening our voices.

We are the young our lives are a mystery,
we are the old who yearn for your face,
We have been sung throughout all of history,
Called to be light in the whole human race.
Gather us in the rich and the haughty,
Gather us in the proud and the strong;
Give us a heart so meek and so lowly,
Give us the courage to enter the song.*

Amen. Alleluia.

 

*Excerpt from Gather Us In (Marty Haugen)

World News in Prayer – Thursday, 30 January 2020

Arise, shine, for your light has come,
And the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth
And thick darkness is over the peoples,
But the Lord rises upon you
And his glory appears over you.
Nations will come to your light,
And kings to the brightness of your dawn.

Isaiah 60:1-3 (NIV)

O Dayspring, O Sun of Justice, you have set our hearts ablaze with the light of your message of hope, reconciliation, and peace.  Help us to shine that light into our dark world.  Help us to look for signs of that light.

Death and the fear of death surround us as the coronavirus spreads from China and into many nations around the world.  But the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:5).  In Wuhan, the center of the outbreak, a restaurant owner named Li Bo spent the Lunar New Year packing boxed lunches for medical workers in the local hospital, despite his fears that his restaurant will go bankrupt due to the city shutdown.  Help us to look for the light, O God.

Anger and distrust of the “other” runs rampant in our world as populist movements grow strong and suffering people blame the most vulnerable among them for their ill fortune.  But the Lord is our light and our salvation; whom shall we fear (Psalm 27:1)?  As we recognize the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Holocaust concentration camp in Auschwitz, Poland, we hear stories of hope from survivors like Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, whose musical talent helped her to survive as a prisoner and later thrive as a founding member of the English Chamber Orchestra.  Help us to remember the light, O God.

Evidence of human impact on our climate continues to grow as ‘extreme’ weather becomes the norm in countries around the world.  Emergency workers in Australia continue to battle bushfires across the country and respond to damaging hail and rainstorms in places like Canberra and Melbourne.  But God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5).  People of good will across the globe continue to work for solutions, like the firm Portal Forest Estates, which has been planting trees in Ghana since 2000 to provide a balance between conservation and manufacturing for economic growth.  Help us to be the light, O God.

Jesus told us, “You are the light of the world.  A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. (Matthew 5:14).”  Give us hearts and minds, hands and voices, to take up that call and that promise.  Rekindle the light of hope in us.  Send us out to look for places of light, remember examples of light, and be sources of light to a dark and hurting world.

Amen.

World News This Week In Prayer – Thursday, January 23, 2020

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice,
and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6:8

Dear God,

Sometimes it feels that this world is full of so much chaos that we forget to take the time to talk to you even when we try to do the work you are calling us to do. As we come to you in these moments, we ask for your presence both in our own lives and for those who feel so far from you.  We ask that you help us to spread justice in a world which is in so much need of peace.

Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly.

God, this week in the U.S. we celebrated the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in a number of different ways. Some of us attended services and lectures to commemorate his life. Others read his speeches or read books to our children to remind us of the racism in our world which does not reflect the love and peace you call us to. As we leave this week behind, we ask that you help us to bring these calls to act into the rest of the year so that we might be better doers of justice in your world.

Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly.

We ask for your presence all over China where an awful outbreak of the Coronavirus has killed your dear children. We ask for your presence there with both those suffering and those who feel trapped, knowing that they may fall ill because of this terrible illness. May the illness cease and may healing come to your children.

Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly.

We remember this week the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. As we remember this horror, we ask that you continue to instill in us love for all people and a willingness to stand up for all of your children. We ask for your presence and your love to overshadow such immense hate and lead us into being justice doers in such a broken world.

Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly.

We ask for your presence in Australia where the fires do not cease, and your beautiful creation continues to be destroyed. We ask that you be with your dear people who are now rendered homeless and for those who are continually hurt by the blazes. We ask that you help us to remember your dear children during this time.

Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly.

God, there are so many things that, although may be out of mind to some of us, are very real and horrific experiences in the lives of your children. Help us to listen more and to remember to continually do justice and spread love and peace in this often broken world.

In your name we pray,
Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thurs. January 16, 2020

Dear Friends in Prayer,

Did you ever have one of those sleepless nights? When, after three hours of perfectly wonderful, refreshing sleep, you are suddenly awake, wide awake, for no apparent reason? And when, despite watching a couple of shows on your Kindle Fire (or whatever you resort to during wakeful hours), your mind is still filled with the fires in Australia…. the opioid crisis…  the volcanoes erupting in the Philippines and Mexico…. the families being separated at the border between the U.S. and Mexico…. the refugees being rejected from more countries than we can count…. hungry, homeless people… hard-working families, struggling to pay their monthly bills… people with pre-existing health conditions, unable to pay their medical bills… police and military people and first responders committing suicide because of what they have seen and heard and done… children living day-to-day with food insecurity… wars and threats of war in Libya, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen and other countries… teenagers being bullied by someone who is telling them they are not enough…. people fleeing gang violence in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras… poor women seeking family planning advice and unable to find it because clinics are being closed… preschoolers with no one to read to them because everyone in their family is working so hard just to stay above water, or never had a chance to learn to read themselves… LGBTQ teens being rejected by their families for being who they are… churches whose doors are narrow and their welcome conditional…. extremist religions like the “Christian” sect in Panama that killed seven indigenous persons in a ritual intended to force them to “repent their sins”… the oceans being polluted with our discarded plastics…. the discovery that the million+ common murres (seabirds) that died between 2015 and 2016 probably were killed by a blob of hot water in the Pacific Ocean (what will global warming do to our furred and finned and feathered friends?)…. those who continue to deny climate change, in spite of the increasing evidence and the warnings of environmental scientists… the impeachment trial of U.S. President Donald Trump…. Russian President Vladimir Putin trying to wrest control from the Russian government and turn the country into a dictatorship… the 2020 elections which will determine the paths of our countries for years to come….

Did you ever have one of those nights when every attempt at prayer seems to fall on empty ears…. when God seems far away and you feel very alone? And when you utter the Serenity Prayer for the tenth time, and find that your heart and mind are settling in, and you finally feel bathed in, encompassed by God’s grace, and sleep feels possible once again?

If you have, dear friend, know you are not alone…. That the writer of this week’s prayers, and all who pray them, and many other wayfaring pilgrims have been and are with you in the darkness, holding out a trembling hand to clasp yours, and together, we’ll make it through the night, God-in-flesh for each other.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – January 9, 2020

Dear God,

While we know you hold onto us, and we know that you are there during every moment of our lives, we also live with so much fear. Fear for the planet, fear for all people around the world, fear for our friends and family, fear for the places we live, and fear for our own lives. There is so much to be afraid of and yet we still know that you are here with us. We ask for your presence to wash over us now.

Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

We pray for the innocent everywhere. For those who suffer in solitude we ask that you be a companion. For those who don’t know where their next meal may come from, we ask for your presence. For those whose loved ones are dying around them, we ask that you be a blanket of comfort. For those who tremble in fear that they may lose their own lives, we ask that your peace be with them.

Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

We pray for your dear children in Australia as wildfires consume the land, homes, wildlife, and your dear people who suffer. We pray for the fires to be extinguished so that your beautiful land may remain as beautiful as it always has, and that you may keep your dear people blanketed with safety.

Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

We ask for your presence in Puerto Rico as an earthquake has caused two-thirds of Puerto Rico to be without electricity. As your children sit in darkness we pray for safety and for your light to shine.

Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

God, we pray for the immense unrest in Iran as your dear people sit in fear for their lives. We ask that your peace may overshadow the violence. We pray for swift guidance of those in political power as decisions are made.

Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

We ask that you be with all of those who lost one of their dear people as a Boeing airplane heading to Ukraine crashed in Iran killing 176 of your dear children. We ask for your presence as we sit with this tragedy. While we will never know the terror that your people felt, we ask that those who passed may rest in your love.

Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

God, there is so much to fear in this world and we don’t always have the words to express the terror we feel. We ask that you quiet our fears in a world in which we have so much to be fearful. We are so grateful Lord for the times of peace and moments when we can celebrate your love. As many celebrated Epiphany this past week, we remember the light of the star which directed the magi. Help us to shine the light you give to each of us. May your light outshine the fears we feel and give us our ultimate strength in you.

Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – January 2, 2020

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.
James 1:17

Oh Lord, there are many things that concern us and call us to prayer.

We open our hearts to you in gratitude and wonder.

We pray for those who rage and are quick to anger, for those who seem to be eaten up by intolerance. We pray for those who express their contempt and fury in violence to themselves and others. We grieve at those who have lost their lives to aggression due to fighting, war, criminal violence, and terrorism. We call out the names of nations so rife with conflict, so often in the news — Afghanistan, Mexico, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Saudi Arabia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, South Sudan, India, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Central African Republic, Pakistan, and the Philippines. We call out the nations that make the weapons of war that fuel decades-long conflict and destruction: US, Russia, France, Germany, Spain, South Korea, China, the United Kingdom, Israel, Italy, and the Netherlands and many more. Help us to see beyond the headlines to stand up for the women and children, the families, the victims, those starving and displaced. We call out for your mercy. Safeguard the journalists who bring the news, relate the stories of the imprisoned, the refugee, those made invisible by war, bigotry, and hatred. Safeguard the whistleblowers. Sustain us as we examine our own hearts, shed our own contempt and learn the practice of peacemaking in our homes and communities.

This season can be a time of anxiety as well as anticipation. We can sense tension and disharmony instead of peace. Many feel depression and despair instead of wellbeing and belonging. Help us to understand and accept those who suffer in mind, body, and spirit. They may be close or far away. Help us to learn compassion and to practice generosity, consideration, kindness and mutual regard. We pray for those who are without homes, who are estranged from their families who feel alone and isolated. May we grow in our practice of charity and give beyond counting. Guide each of us to do the right thing in our own special way for the need is great.

As the past year turns into this new decade in the tumultuous millennium help us to shed despair and the sense of heaviness that the need is unending and insurmountable. Sustain us with the words of healing. May we be reminded that around the world literacy is increasing, childhood deaths are declining and people are being lifted out of deep poverty as never before known.

May the hope born in Advent light the way through the minutes, hours, days and months to come.

May your love-come-down-among-us strengthen and steady our steps, telling us that we are not alone.

Amen.

World News in Prayer – Thursday, 26th December 2019

As we approach the end of another year, we tend to reflect and look back over the last year or decade but unless this informs our choices and behaviours going forward it is in danger of being an empty and futile activity. So many have expressed frustration, anger or disconnectedness with the political process in so many countries for a variety of reasons but there is an upsurge in an expressed awareness of our shared humanity and planet and the need to protect this for our future survival. 

Lord God, hear us and guide us to open our hearts and minds to follow you rather than the latest demagogue or social media influencer.

In the Incarnation, you came as a helpless baby, in an occupied country, to a skilled artisan and his fiancée, not even married.  The family became refugees to save your life. No palace or big country pile, no soft, cushy number but a life of graft and community, growing and learning; but it had purpose, dignity, time spent building a relationship with you, love and service. Galilee was not a high status and sought out part of the country, but in the difficulties and challenges Jesus grew in years, knowledge and understanding. Lord, more people in the world today experience similar circumstances than the much vaunted and sought-after high income, high consumption, cushioned life of the powerful and elites. 

Lord God, forgive us when we fail to recognise and value the dignity and humanity of all who share our small planet. So easily anything could happen to any of us, if not already done so.

: those who are homeless.

: those living with physical or mental illness or addictions.

: those struggling to make ends meet and even put food on the table, clothes on their backs, heating and lighting, clean water and sanitation, education for their children, health care and safety from violence.  We name among them those in Yemen, the refugees and stateless in Europe, Mexico, the Asian sub-continent. 

: our neighbors, when often their distress is hidden behind closed doors 

: those who slip through the safety nets (where they exist) for those in need, 

: those out of work and finding jobs hard to find especially ones which provide regular  income and a sense of worth and dignity; we name those in Iraq freed from ISIS but feeling abandoned by the corruption endemic in their government systems relying on charitable micro start-ups.

: those facing economic and natural disasters. Among them those in Australia, the US, the Philippines, Greenland, Vanuatu and other low-lying countries in Micronesia.

: those suffering injustice and living in fear or war; including Chile, Yemen, Syria, and Myanmar

: the seemingly world-wide endemic of violence against women and girls: we give thanks for those highlighting this and struggling to make changes often at great personal danger and cost in India, France, Spain, and so many other countries.

: those in power who seek self-aggrandisement at the expense of belittling and dehumanising others who generally have less access to the megaphone of the media. 

  We give thanks for the courage and endurance of those politicians, lawyers, community advocates and others of faith and none shining the light of truth challenging these life-sapping deceits. We name among others those in China, Hong Kong, Russia, Venezuela, the UK, the US, Mexico.


Lord God, we pray that the way of the Prince of Peace may prevail. This newborn babe, grew into the Servant King living daily in his actions and attitudes the equal worth and vulnerabilities of all people springing from a love for all, and all your creation. 

We give thanks for the many who share their time, energy, gifts and skills in enabling others to survive and hopefully start to achieve their God-given potential.

May the hope brought by the Incarnation inspire us. 

May the joy of the new-life witnessed by so many, give us optimism and the challenge of a new way of living the future.

In the words of one of the verses of the Austrian carol, “Still, still, still”,

“Love, love, love. No greater love than his;
While ‘Christ the Lord’ the angels name him,
We with fervent hearts acclaim him.
Love, love, love. No greater love than his.”

AMEN

World News This Week in Prayer – Christmas 2019

Christmas 2019

Sure on This Shining Night – Concordia Choir

Sure on this shining night
Of starmade shadows round,
Kindness must watch for me
This side the ground.

The late year lies down the north.
All is healed, all is health.
High summer holds the earth.
Hearts all whole.

Sure on this shining night
I weep for wonder
Wandering far alone
Of shadows on the stars.

-Poem by James Agee; musical setting by Morten Lauridsen (click on link above)

Sure on this shining night, when tenderness descends among us,
may the unexpected advent of God among us as a tiny child
disturb our complacency, even as it fills us with wonder.

Sure on this shining night, when joy fills the stars,
may the promise of God always beside us
sustain and strengthen our hope through the years to come.

Sure on this shining night, when our hearts rise up singing,
may the delight of welcoming the new-born Son
renew us to cherish every human being as Christ himself.

Sure on this shining night, when our hearts yearn to receive Him,
may the assurance of God’s Love
commit us to making this world, these nations, these seas and skies and lands,
into a home fit for God’s own self.

And the blessing of God be upon us, this day and always.

As is our custom on Christmas, we pause in naming the pressing concerns of the world to invite your prayers upon all those in every nation on earth:

A – C

Afghanistan … Albania … Algeria … Andorra … Angola … Antigua and Barbuda … Argentina … Armenia … Australia … Austria … Azerbaijan … The Bahamas … Bahrain … Bangladesh … Barbados … Belarus … Belgium … Belize … Benin … Bhutan … Bolivia … Bosnia and Herzegovina … Botswana … Brazil … Brunei … Bulgaria … Burkina Faso … Burundi … Cabo Verde … Cambodia … Cameroon … Canada … Central African Republic … Chad … Chile … China … Colombia … Comoros … Congo, Democratic Republic of the … Congo, Republic of the … Costa Rica … Côte d’Ivoire … Croatia … Cuba … Cyprus … Czech Republic

D – J

Denmark … Djibouti … Dominica … Dominican Republic … East Timor (Timor-Leste) … Ecuador … Egypt … El Salvador … Equatorial Guinea … Eritrea … Estonia … Eswatini … Ethiopia … Fiji … Finland … France … Gabon … The Gambia … Georgia … Germany … Ghana … Greece … Grenada … Guatemala … Guinea … Guinea-Bissau … Guyana … Haiti … Honduras … Hungary … Iceland … India … Indonesia … Iran … Iraq … Ireland … Israel … Italy … Jamaica … Japan … Jordan

K – M

Kazakhstan … Kenya … Kiribati … Korea, North … Korea, South … Kosovo … Kuwait … Kyrgyzstan … Laos … Latvia … Lebanon … Lesotho … Liberia … Libya … Liechtenstein … Lithuania … Luxembourg … Madagascar … Malawi … Malaysia … Maldives … Mali … Malta … Marshall Islands … Mauritania … Mauritius … Mexico … Micronesia, Federated States of … Moldova … Monaco … Mongolia … Montenegro … Morocco … Mozambique … Myanmar (Burma)

N – S

Namibia … Nauru … Nepal … Netherlands … New Zealand … Nicaragua … Niger … Nigeria … North Macedonia … Norway … Oman … Pakistan … Palau … Panama … Papua New Guinea … Paraguay … Peru … Philippines … Poland … Portugal … Qatar … Romania … Russia … Rwanda … Saint Kitts and Nevis … Saint Lucia … Saint Vincent and the Grenadines … Samoa … San Marino … Sao Tome and Principe … Saudi Arabia … Senegal … Serbia … Seychelles … Sierra Leone … Singapore … Slovakia … Slovenia … Solomon Islands … Somalia … South Africa … Spain … Sri Lanka … Sudan … Sudan, South … Suriname … Sweden … Switzerland … Syria

T-Z

Taiwan … Tajikistan … Tanzania … Thailand … Togo … Tonga … Trinidad and Tobago … Tunisia … Turkey … Turkmenistan … Tuvalu … Uganda … Ukraine … United Arab Emirates … United Kingdom … United States … Uruguay … Uzbekistan … Vanuatu … Vatican City … Venezuela … Vietnam … Yemen … Zambia … Zimbabwe

World News This Week in Prayer — Thursday, 12 December 2019

During this season of Advent, this season of waiting, we are called to anticipate the fulfillment of God’s reign. Advent is a chance for each one of us to practice the reign of God in the way we meet and treat one another. As we prepare for this time of prayer, let us anticipate the coming light.

Holy God, our hope, we rejoice that your word became flesh and made his dwelling among us and we long for your reign. As we wait, our hearts overflow with gratitude for the beauty of your creation and for signs of peace and reconciliation.

We lift our hearts in thanks for the inspiration that Greta Thunberg has been to so many and celebrate with her as she has been named Time Magazine’s Person of the year. We value the hope that she has encouraged across the globe as we work to honor and restore your planet more and more.

We feel joy and expectation as the world’s first fully-electric commercial aircraft took flight for 15 minutes over Vancouver, Canada this week.

As we celebrate the coming of Jesus as a poor, helpless child, we also yearn for the day when there will be no more sorrow or pain.

We lift our hearts in prayer for the small South Pacific nation of Samoa, where a measles outbreak has infected 83 people and killed 71 people to date. We pray for your help and healing.

Even as we make strides toward preserving your earth, we remember the many victims of natural disasters. We pray for the people of New Zealand, where the Whakaari volcano erupted with at least 47 visitors from around the world on the White Island, some of whom have died and many of whom are in intensive care. We also pray for those affected by the landslides on the South Island, which has left thousands stranded. We pray that all affected are met with aid and support.

As we pray for justice and peace, we lift up the United States, where two articles of impeachment have been filed against President Trump. We also pray for the victims of a shooting in Jersey City, NJ where six people were killed and others injured. May your people move forward with a sense of hope and purpose.

O God, whose will is equity for the poor and aid for the afflicted, let your herald’s voice break through our hardened hearts to announce the coming of your kingdom. We know there are wonderful and terrible things happening in the world around us, and we are grateful to have a faith with room to hold it all, and room to hold us all. We pray that our complacency gives way to conversion, oppression to justice, and conflict to acceptance of one another in Christ. We ask this in the name of the one whose coming we celebrate this season, and whose life we strive to model in all seasons.

Amen.