World in Prayer

World News This Week In Prayer – Thursday, June 11, 2015

Gracious Lord, we seek your Kingdom, which grows during both day and night. Help us, even when we do not know how, to remember that when things seem dark you are still at work in the world.

 

We pray for

 

  • China where the mass migration of parents looking for work have left millions of children behind in rural areas. We pray for the souls of four of these children who died this week from pesticide poisoning.

 

  • India and Myanmar, as Indian rebels (Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang) encamped in Myanmar have been ambushing troops, and Indian forces have been attacking Khaplang militant camps within Myanmar’s borders.

 

  • The United States, where a history of racism continues to affect its common life, as police round up black youth at a pool party, and another police officer may face charges of murder, manslaughter, and reckless homicide after killing a 12-year-old African-American boy.

 

  •  Canada, as its people seek to respond to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report which details the forced removal of indigenous children from their homes and the subsequent abuse many of them suffered at government-sponsored residential schools run by churches.

 

  • Spain, where Parliament has passed a new law making it easier for descendants of Jews who were expelled from or fled Spain during the Inquisition to apply for citizenship.

 

  • All those attending the Youth in Asia Training for Religious Amity course in Cambodia.

 

  • All whose work and ministry brings healing and hope to their communities and country.

 

Gracious God, we seek your Kingdom. May it be within us. May we share it with the world. And may we be transformed by your Kingdom’s loving power. All this we ask in the name of your Son Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen.

 

World News This Week in Prayer- Thursday, June 4, 2015

Assured of God’s grace and sustained by God’s love, let us open our hearts and minds as we pray together.

Ever present God, with thanksgiving and praise we honor you for the gift of life. Your love strengthens us in times of despair, your wisdom speaks to us in times of uncertainty, and your Spirit fills us with energy and light each and every day. Your presence in our lives is a true blessing, one that goes far beyond our understanding.

We turn to you and lift up our prayers, as we search for ways to bring your peace and healing to all who are in need this day.

We pray for the 300 hundred people who are still missing after the Eastern Star cruise ship capsized in the Yangtze River in China. We pray for their families as they wait for news.

We pray for the 175 people killed in the fire in Accra, the capital of Ghana. We pray for all who were injured during the mudslide and heavy rains. We pray for those who will rebuild once again.

We pray for the millions of American government employees who have had their personal information compromised during a massive data breach.

We pray for the First Nations people of Canada as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report on residential schools is now complete. We pray that all people will engage in the healing process, and that healthy and respectful relationships will continue to grow.

We pray for those who have suffered because of the injustices and corruption of those in power in the FIFA organization.

And in this time of silence we pray for those whose needs are know to you alone.

Holy God, these are the prayers of your people. Guide us, we pray, to live in ways that extend your peace and love to all people, all nations, and all of Creation. In the strong name of Jesus we pray.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, December 18, 2014

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. – John 13:34

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. – Matthew 11:29

I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. – John 12:46

The news this week has left me crying with the bereaved relatives and friends of 137 school-children and 5 teachers in Pakistan, “ENOUGH!”

  • In Gumsuri village, northern Nigeria, 33 people were murdered by Boko Haram and another 200 taken captive.
  • 51 people are confirmed dead and more than 50 are still missing after a mud-slide in Java, Indonesia.
  • The worst drought in over 80 years is stalking huge areas around Sao Paulo, Brazil.  Heavy rainstorms have temporarily broken the drought in California, USA but have not refilled the vastly depleted water table.
  • Australia is recovering from the siege in a Sydney cafe which resulted in 2 deaths and others injured and is now looking to improve its gun-controls.
  • Tugs and ships are being used as floating arsenals for private security firms fighting pirates in several areas of the world.  The ships are often registered to countries which have no record of control or management of such items causing major concerns over security and accountability.
  • Greece is in turmoil, and is seemingly unable to appoint a new government leading to more chaos and insecurity.
  • The Russian ruble has gone into free-fall leaving ordinary Russians to pay the price.
  • Five people have died in Japan following heavy snowfall and vast tidal surges caused by unexpectedly low barometric pressure.
  • The fighting and political manipulation continues in Syria, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, the West Bank, Israel, Afghanistan, Somalia and so many other countries…
  • And we all live in the same small world, inter-connected, needing and being needed by each other. When will we stand together like the people of Pakistan and say, “Enough!”  Where now, India, which has been antagonistic towards Pakistan since its inception, is now tweeting in the thousands messages of support under the hashtag IndiawithPakistan. A bereaved parent in Peshawar, Pakistan said “the smallest coffins are the heaviest ones to lift.”
  • The USA has dropped its decades long isolation policy against its near neighbor Cuba. At the same time as admitting that the torture and rendition policies used after 9/11 were ineffective in producing intelligence. Something that history made clear long ago. Other countries including the United Kingdom, Jordan, Egypt, Poland and others all were involved too although now desperately trying to shed responsibility or blame.
  • A young boy is being shunned in his village in China because he was born with HIV – a common reaction to those with this disease in China.

Lord, have mercy and forgive us our cruelty and lack of love for each other especially when we encounter differences.

Thankfully we hear of people celebrating differences and difficulties transforming them into challenges. The nativity plays put on by children with multiple health and learning disabilities, goes to the truth and heart of Advent and Christmas.  Christ comes for us all, black, white, brown, yellow, male, female, transgender, able-bodied and those with life-limiting conditions whether of body or mind. So often, the worst things that happen are done by those who are deformed in their soul, but Christ is born for each one of them too.

These prayers from different faith traditions have helped me refocus on God, our hope and source of life.

  • Bahá’í – Be a breath of life unto the body of humankind a dew upon the human heart, and a fruit upon the tree of humility.
  • Christian – Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. Blessed be the Peacemakers, for they shall be called the Children of God.
  • Confucian – First there must be order and harmony within your own heart. Only then can there be peace and harmony in the world.
  • Hindu – Oh God, lead us from the unreal to the Real, from darkness to light, from death to immortality. God’s peace, peace, peace to all.
  • Jain – Peace and universal love is the essence of all the teachings. Forgive do I creatures all, and let all creatures forgive me.
  • Jewish – Oh come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, that we may walk the paths of the Most High. And we will beat our swords into ploughshares and our spears into pruning hooks.
  • Muslim – Praise be to the Lord of the Universe. Who has created us and made us into tribes and nations that we may know each other, not despise each other.
  • Native African – For you are one who does not hesitate to respond to our call, you are the cornerstone of peace.
  • Native American – Give us the wisdom to teach our children to love, to respect and to be kind to one another that we may grow with peace in mind.
  • Sikh – Know that we find God when we love, and only that victory endures in consequence of which no one is defeated.
  • Zoroastrian – We pray to God that understanding will triumph over ignorance, that generosity will triumph over indifference, that trust will triumph over contempt, and that truth will triumph over falsehood

God of Advent, / among refugees and outcasts / you breathed your first breaths. / In the cry of a newborn child you proclaimed / Emmanuel, God-with-us. / Come, God of the margins, / breathe into us the spirit of longing for your Kingdom. / Come this Advent to make us dream of / and work for / a better world of justice and freedom. / Come Lord, come. / Amen. (Dave Broom, Iona Community)

World News This Week in Prayer – November 27th 2014

“Praise and thanksgiving, Father we offer, for all things living you have made good”

Hymn by Albert F.Bayly

Father at the start of a new Christian year we offer our thanksgiving for all the mercies we have received over the past years.

Despite the snow and difficult traveling conditions for many in Canada and the USA, we offer you our praise and thanksgiving that we celebrate with our families and friends.

Because of our increased awareness of the use of rape as a weapon of war, we offer our thanks and praise for the work of doctors such as Denis Mukwege, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, honored by the European Union with the Sakharov Prize For Freedom of Thought, for his work with victims of sexual assault.

Despite ebola still being out of control in Guinea, West Africa, we give our praise and thanksgiving for the news that a vaccine is “promising” and may soon be in use.

Because of the devastating death of cricketer Philip Hughes in Sidney, Australia, we realize that we take for granted the pleasure we give and receive from sports and games and offer our praise and thanksgiving.

Despite the reports of 37 deaths in two separate Chinese coal mines following explosions, we give our thanks and praise that increasingly non-fossil fuels such as bottle lights are used more widely in Bangladesh.

Because we need to know how best to live at one with our world we give our thanks and praise that inner and outer space are increasingly explored with the news that links in the brain affecting Alzheimer’s are being revealed and an exploratory lander, Philae, now rests on a comet.

Despite the news that the Giant St Helena Earwig, found only on the one small island in the Atlantic Ocean, has been declared extinct we give praise and thanksgiving for the reassessment of museum and library collections, confirming a horned dinosaur in Canada and Utah, USA and revealing a first folio Shakespeare in France.   We confess our complicity in changing our world.  May we have the grace to save, conserve and celebrate all that is now living so that future generations are able to celebrate and offer thanksgiving in a fully functioning ecosystem.

Father, there is so much we do not know or understand about ourselves and our world.  We are like children opening our presents and finding the wrapping is as interesting as the contents.  We offer our praise and thanksgiving for the gifts of curiosity and imagination.

Take us into Advent and a new year with all our wonder, delight, and creativity intact, as we offer praise and thanksgiving.

Give us thankful and grateful hearts, Lord we pray.  Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, August 14, 2014

World in Prayer for August 14, 2014

 

(As I looked around me at our world this week, preparing to write these prayers, I found myself singing over and over the words to Marty Haugen’s wonderful hymn, “Healer of Our Every Ill”, and so I have incorporated them into the prayers for this week.)

 

Healer of our every ill,
light of each tomorrow,
give us peace beyond our fear
and hope beyond our sorrow.

 

To God, the Healer, we turn today, for as we look around this world of ours, we see so much pain, so much sorrow, so much brokenness.

  • As we grieve the death of gifted actor and comedian, Robin Williams, as we feel the pain of all those who suffer from depression and every form of mental illness…
  • As we feel the anguish of the family of Chinese dissident lawyer, Gao Zhisheng, who is suffering from severe mental and physical health problems after his imprisonment and torture, as they try to bring him to the United States for treatment…
  • As we mourn the death of AP video journalist, Simone Camilli, in an explosion in Gaza…
  • As we share the sorrow of the Brazilian people at the death of presidential candidate, Eduardo Campos, in a plane crash…

 

You who know our fears and sadness,
Grace us with your peace and gladness.
Spirit of all comfort, fill our hearts.

 

To God, the giver of strength, we turn today,

  • As we watch helplessly the continuing armed conflicts and instability in Syria, the Ukraine, Pakistan, Iraq, and Gaza…
  • As we suffer with those combatting the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia…
  • As we see the suffering of the immigrant children fleeing from Central America to the United States, in the hope of a better life…
  • As California in the United States suffers with the worst drought in a century while the eastern United States experiences record rainfall and flooding…
  • As we are made aware of the countless millions who are victims of human trafficking throughout the world…

Fill our hearts with compassion and lift us from the hopelessness which immobilizes us.

 

In the pain and joy, beholding
how your grace is still unfolding,
give us all your vision, God of love.

 

To God, the giver of hope, we turn today. Give us your vision to see bright lights of hope in the midst of the darkness:

  • The selfless dedication of the members of Doctors Without Borders (Medicins sans Frontieres), working to combat the Ebola epidemic in West Africa…
  • The peace-making visit of Pope Francis to South Korea, where he conducted mass at Myeondong Cathedral in Seoul…
  • The awarding of the Fields Medal, the “Nobel Prize of mathematics”, to Dr. Maryam Mirzakhani from Tehran, Iran, the first woman to receive this award…
  • The birth and continuing good health of panda triplets in a zoo in China…

 

Give us strength to love each other,
every sister, every brother,
Spirit of all kindness, fill each heart.

 

Fill us, we pray, with the vision, the courage, the wisdom, the strength, to look at our world with clear and compassionate eyes…to see what is and to envision what could be. Grant us the peace of mind and heart to not be so confounded or discouraged that we see only the difficulties and problems, becoming immobilized by their magnitude. Empower us with the willingness to be part of solution, even when that is difficult and demanding, when it takes us outside of our individual comfort zones. Heal our brokenness; heal our discouragement; heal our reluctance to become involved. For we know that we do not work alone; we do not suffer alone. You have given us one another and you have filled us with your presence, and for this, we give you thanks.

 

You who know each thought and feeling,
teach us all your way of healing.
Spirit of compassion, fill each heart.

Healer of our every ill,
light of each tomorrow,
give us peace beyond our fear
and hope beyond our sorrow.

AMEN.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, July 17, 2014

Precious Lord, take my hand,
Lead me on, let me stand,
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn;
Through the storm, through the night,
Lead me on to the light,
Take my hand, precious Lord,
Lead me home.

 

Even as we sing, even as we pray, Precious Lord, our thoughts turn to those for whom ‘home’ has become an uncertain and unsafe place, for whom ‘home’ is but a hope-filled dream. For those of us who know this place of safety and comfort, our minds strain to comprehend what its loss means to so many, and so we turn our thoughts and hearts and hope to them this day.

 

  • To all those in the path of Typhon Rammasun in the Pacific- the people of the Philippines who have already experienced its devastation and the people of coastal China, where its track is headed.

 

Have mercy, Lord, and lead them home.

 

  • To the 450 children in Zamora, Mexico, who have been removed from a children’s home because they have been subjected to sexual abuse and forced to beg on the streets by the very people who were to be caring for them.

 

Have mercy, Lord, and lead them home.

 

  • To the Palestinian people of Gaza, that ancient land, where the death tolls mount and 100,000 have been warned to leave their homes by the Israelis, in preparation for another bombardment.

 

Have mercy, Lord, and lead them home.

 

  • To the forty detainees on hunger strikes at the Bagram detention facility in Afghanistan, detained in secret by the American military, with no legal rights and whose families are kept in the dark about their whereabouts and condition.

 

Have mercy, Lord, and lead them home.

 

  • To those suffering with the soaring temperatures in England and Wales, on the eastern coast and southwest region of the United States.

 

Have mercy, Lord, and lead them home.

  • To the people of Syria, Ukraine, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gaza, where so many have been forced from their homes and the lives they have known, only to become homeless refugees in strange and often-hostile places.

 

Have mercy, Lord, and lead them home.

 

  • To the refugee children from Central America, fleeing violence and extreme poverty in their homelands, in the hope of a new home and welcome in the United States, only to be often met by hostility and anger and fear.

 

Have mercy, Lord, and lead them home.

 

  • To the United States Navy nurse who has risked his career and the animus of others by refusing to force-feed hunger strike prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

 

Have mercy, Lord, and lead them home.

 

  • To all of the countless others, unknown to us but surely known to you, Benevolent God: those who roam the streets of cities everywhere with no place to lay their heads and nowhere to call their home; those in the grip of dark depression who have lost all hope of ever having a meaningful life; and those of us who are so far removed from the suffering of our sisters and brothers that we remain oblivious to what is their everyday reality.

 

Have mercy, Lord, and lead them home

 

When the darkness appears
And the night draws near,
And the day is past and gone,
At the river I stand,
Guide my feet, hold my hand,
Take my hand, precious Lord,
Lead me home.

 

Lead us all, home, Precious Lord, lead us home. Amen

 

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, June 5, 2014

World in prayer – Prayers for Pentecost 2014
Gathered together, surrounded by the grace of the Spirit, we enter into this holy time of prayer seeking Divine wisdom and courage to live faithfully and justly.
Let us join together in prayer.

 

Creator God, we feel your Spirit move among us in the gentle breeze, in the ocean waves, and in the colours of the setting sun.

We experience your Spirit move among us in the smile of the stranger, in the tenderness of a child, and in the beauty of the sunrise.

In response, we share your Spirit with others through acts of kindness, caring words and our prayers for your world. Hear us now as we pray.

On this holy day of celebration we hold before you all who woken up today to violence, unrest and injustice.

 

We pray for the people of Beijing, People’s Republic of China, as they remember the violence and loss of life at Tiananmen Square 25 years ago. May your Spirit surround all who suffer at the hands of others.

We pray for the dozens of Nigerian villagers who were killed by militants disguised as soldiers. May your Spirit surround all the innocent victims of political and domestic violence.

We pray for those who were killed in a blast near Pakistan’s capital Islamabad. We pray for the police officers and their families of Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, where a gunman has killed three police officers and wounded two others.

May your Spirit surround all who grieve the loss of loved ones.

We pray for the people in the Ukraine, Egypt, the Middle East and all other places where violence, unrest, and injustice are daily occurrences. May your Spirit surround all who live in violent situations and all who work for peace.

We pray for our planet and the universe, knowing that our actions have caused damage to all parts of your creation. May your Spirit guide us to live respectfully with all of creation.

Most Holy One, guide us we pray to bring your healing touch to all who are in need this day. Grant us courageous spirits that we may follow in the teachings of Jesus. All of this we pray in love and in peace. Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, May 15, 2014

Jesus said, “You’re familiar with the command to the ancients, ‘Do not murder.’
I’m telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder.
Carelessly call a brother ‘idiot!’ and you just might find yourself hauled into court.
Thoughtlessly yell ‘stupid!’ at a sister and you are on the brink of hellfire.
The simple moral fact is that words kill.”
Matthew 5:21-22 (The Message)

As a protection from hurtful words we were taught a playful little chant:
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

But they do hurt.
And the scars left from murderous words run deep.
Cutting to the marrow, separating soul and flesh.

When words like stones pummel our bodies,
When words like sticks are used to thrash our hearts,
When words become weapons of mass destruction,
When words carelessly slip from our mouths
and cascade like runaway boulders down the mountainside,
remind us, O God, of Stephen.

As rocks rained down upon him,
punishment for opening his heart to see your glory,
as each stone and pebble pounded him,
he had the grace and mercy to cry out,
“Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” (Acts 7:60, NIV)

Please, Lord God, don’t hold our sins against us.

Please, Lord God, don’t hold the sins of others against them.

Living Word, guide our hearts and our words,
that everything we say and do might be acceptable and pleasing in your sight,
that we might preach good news with word and deed,
that we might forgive as we have been forgiven.

Give us words of hope and comfort
for the families of miners affected by the fire in Soma, Turkey.

Give us words of reconciliation and mourning
as the 9/11 memorial opens in New York City, United States.

Give us words of peace and understanding
as tensions rise between China and Vietnam over an oil drilling rig in disputed waters.

Give us words of anger, but not of sin,
as hundreds of girls from Chibok, Nigeria, are still held captive by Boko Haram.

Give us words of responsibility and action
as bread lines grow increasingly long, tense, and sometimes violent in Venezuela.

Amid all the changing words of our generation,
speak your Living Word.

As we listen,
as we hear,
create within us hearts of love,
and breathe into our lungs the fresh air of new life.

 Amen.

 

World News The Week in Prayer – Thursday April 10, 2014

Loving God, by your grace teach us patience – and renewed hope when we face such disappointments as:

  • the failure to date to address human rights abuses in Syria;
  •  the failure of any sub-Saharan African country to meet Millennial Development Goals of cutting in half the number of people not having access to clean water and sanitation;
  •  the failure to realize the lofty economic goals of USAID and other would-be helpers;
  •  the continuation of terrorist attacks in Pakistan and elsewhere.

Give us the patience not to expect an easy path. Guard us from disappointment.

Encouraging God, by your guidance help us avoid unreasonable expectations and repudiate arrogant pride in successes:

  • like the determination of Sweden to improve the quality of life and the environment by providing major support for the development of clean cook stoves in Bangladesh, China, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda;
  • like the possibilities that inhere in the upcoming meeting of Russia, the European Union, and the United States on the standoff in Ukraine.

These possibilities may be realized and they may not. When they are realized, keep our rejoicing modest.

Leading God, by your kindness keep us mindful of where we can be of use. Give us the realization that we can make progress by whatever means, through financial or personal support, even though we cannot make situations perfect. Inspire us to support the work of people who give direct aid:

  • to health workers in Western Africa where over 100 of 157 people infected with the Ebola virus have died;
  • to the work mitigating the effects of global warming;
  • to the first responders who serve to restore and preserve life.

We need a large measure of appreciation coupled with a large willingness to act.

These things we ask in our conviction that you will aid us, love us, and put us on your path. Amen

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, March 20th 2014

 

 

Thursday, March 20th 2014

“If God is your co-pilot, swap seats!” (cartoon)

“Purity does not come in separation from but in deeper penetration into the Universe … Bathe yourself in the ocean of matter; plunge into it where it is deepest and most violent; struggle in its currents and drink its water.  For it cradled you long ago in your preconscious existence: and it is the ocean that will raise you up to God.”
Teilhard de Chardin “Hymn of the Universe”

 Jesus said to her (the Samaritan woman at the well), “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.”
John 4: 13 – 14

 So many stories in the news this week seem to center on the in-crowd and those marginalized in so many societies and situations. This reflects the gospel story of Jesus’ remarkable extended conversation at the public well with the Samaritan woman whose sexual behavioral choices has cast her out to the margins of her society.  Jesus chose not to conform to the accepted patterns of behavior by not only speaking with her in public, but engaging in deep and frank conversation with her, expressing God’s love for each person regardless of their nationality, gender or history and pointing the way to a truly fulfilled and purposeful life.

 Come Lord, come light, come love.
Come down,
Come in,
Come among us.

 Lord, we so often want to play it safe, to be approved of by others, not to rock the boat too much – fearful of ostracism and the consequences of being excluded and marginalized. Help us to discern what we should do according to what is right in Your eyes, and so worship you in spirit and in truth in our actions and daily choices of living… But give us grace and humility as well as integrity and strength of purpose, and fill us with your light and love…

 Come Presence, come peace, come power.
Come down,
Come in,
Come among us.

 We pray for all those from many countries still waiting for news of their missing relatives and friends on the missing Malaysian Airlines flight… for those involved in the search … for compassionate treatment of those stuck in the quicksand of not-knowing the fate of their loved ones . . .

Those facing uncertainty through the planned mega-dams on the Brahmaputra both in Tibet and India which could cause untold consequences for millions…

The flooding of the Mid-West of the USA with very cheap heroin smuggled in from Mexico . . .We pray for protection of the thousands of young teenagers trying it and becoming hooked. . .

The carnage in Syria, the Central African Republic, Afghanistan, Iraq, the unrest in Ukraine, Crimea, Brazil, Taipei, and so many other countries. . .

 Come Grace, come glory, come goodness.
Come down,
Come in,
Come among us.

We pray for all those fighting corruption wherever it is found:

Charges placed against President Zuma of South Africa, some senior politicians in China, a few policemen in the UK, allegations of bribery and corruption in so many sporting fields and organizations.

We give thanks for so many quietly working often without publicity to try and bring reconciliation, justice and peace rather than war, bitterness and brokenness. . .

We give thanks for those courageously blowing the whistle on what so many try to keep hidden…

We give thanks for millions in the UK involved in so many events this week for Sport Relief to help people improve their own lives in the UK and throughout the world.  We especially give thanks for the children and young people who give of their time, energy and creativity to try and help others in so many ways in all our communities.

 Come Creator, come Redeemer, come Strengthener.
Come down,
Come in,
Come among us.

 Help us, Lord, to get down and dirty in the often messy confusion of our lives and those of our neighbors both in our own communities and far away… Remind us daily to have You as our Pilot and not co-pilot! That we may do everything we can to make sure everyone has clean water to drink and to know they are loved by You.  Use us as Your hands, your touch, your channel of love, healing and peace. . .

 Come Father, come Son, come Spirit.
Come down,
Come in,
Come among us.
                                             David Adam “Border Lands”

 AMEN