India

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, March 28, 2019

Holy One,

In the dark of the night when tears become our prayers, we believe the Spirit intercedes for us, breathing through our lament.

In the light of the day when fears hushes our voice, we believe that Christ listens to all that we carry in deep within our hearts.

In the midst of life’s cacophony, we believe that you draw us close, even when we struggle to draw close to you.

Not a word is on our lips that you do not know completely. And yet we must pray. We must offer up the yearnings and desires of our heart. We must pray for the world as it is and name the world that we long to see, the one that lives and moves and has its fullness in You, in your love and grace, peace and justice.

Thus, hear our prayers, oh loving, living Lord. Imperfect and incomplete as they might be, hear our prayers and make your presence known to us now.

Hear our prayers for the southern parts of Africa living with the aftermath of Cyclone Idai. We lift up to you all those who are struggling with flooding and fires, devastation, disease, and death. Be with the people of Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe as they strive to rebuild their homes, their lives, their sense of well-being. Be with aid workers, doctors, civilians, and all those who are working alongside each other to bring healing help.

Hear our prayers for those living within tumultuous and transitioning political systems around the world, including Britain, India, and Venezuela. Where people are driven by anxiety, bring forth signs of your hope. Where rage and hatred seem to have the last word, speak again your astounding word of peace. We pray for those who are mighty in power and privilege, who are making decisions for those who are the lowly, the lost, and the least among us.

Hear our prayers for those living in the aftermath of the shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand. We pray for all those who step into their mosques, synagogues, and places of worship with trepidation. May all places of prayer become safe spaces for those who need them. We pray for those whose daily lives have been upended by violence in the past week, including in Yemen, Iraq, Gaza, and Israel. Be with parents, children, students, and civilians who live in the midst of gun violence, from villages in central Mali to subdivisions in the United States.

Through all these prayers, we rediscover again that we are not the saviors of the world. You are. We lift up our hearts to you, praying that our hands and feet might further the work of your kin-dom, today, tomorrow, now, and forever.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, March 7, 2019

“Safe in the shadow of the Lord

beneath His hand and power,

I trust in Him,

my fortress and my tower.”

– paraphrase of Ps 91 by Timothy Dudley-Smith

Heavenly Father, Your word and being is of compassion, merciful care and everlasting love to all, regardless of merit. The response to this has to be our choice. But, if we come choosing to trust You in your nature and openly admit with contrition where we have fallen short or turned away from You, Your everlasting mercy erases our failures and unites us with Your heart. We long for this acceptance and healing.

Lord, I trust in You and give thanks and praise.

“My hope is set on God alone though Satan sets his snare,”…

The temptation to be obsessed by becoming “successful” and gaining material wealth and power too often based on exploiting others and the world You have created is seen as being mainstream and so seductive. We think of our cheap, instant fashion created by people in sweat shops; our flowers often out of season grown in developing countries using chemicals not allowed in our own home states; cheap palm oil at the expense of deforestation and loss of habitat for wildlife and endangering the ecosystem of the entire planet. Our rubbish, whether technical, plastic, or ships and vehicles, dumped overseas where they are stripped by people in desperate need of work, often in very dangerous conditions, and contaminating their environment.

Lord, open our eyes to the convenience of our lives so dearly paid for by others we don’t see or rarely think of. But, these too are our brothers and sisters, created and loved by You.

I choose to trust in You, God, to keep each one of us in Your care and make us more aware of how we are co-dependent one on each other, regardless of where we live on this small, beautiful, but fragile planet.

“From fears and phantoms of the night, from foes about my way”…

The widespread use of violence in word, attitude, and action wounds, marginalizes, and even kills people. Anything that is “other” than what we are is portrayed as being negative and even not worthy of being allowed to exist. We remember people of faith being persecuted for being Christian in Pakistan, Syria, Somalia, Northern Nigeria, Iraq and even in Europe and the UK if people of other faiths chose to become Christian; for those Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus, Jehovah Witnesses and others who are routinely targeted by hatred and thoughtless violence in word and action and even torture in Russia, the US, Canada, Australia, the UK and many countries in Africa, South America and Asia. Our fear of difference and love of the same as ourselves distorts so often into ugliness and hatred of others.

We give thanks for projects, such as that led by Dr. Paula Green in Massachusetts, USA, bringing people together from across whichever divide exists in our communities for conflict resolution. Helping to put faces to the depersonalized hate or feared group of people, and to really listen to each other are major starting points.

I choose to trust in You, God, by darkness and by day. Forgive us our smallness of mind, heart and understanding and open us by the in-pouring of Your Holy Spirit.

“His holy angels keep my feet secure from every stone;”…

Fake news abounds throughout the media and the world, built on fears and trying to cause division and confusion. In Venezuela, Israel, the Middle East, Europe the UK and Northern Ireland over Brexit; countries, politicians, multinational companies trying to manipulate others through media disinformation and lies, breaking down trust, increasing the sense of helplessness and hopelessness in so many: we recall the Chinese telecoms corporation, Huawei, Facebook, Twitter, most major newspaper groups in the UK, and so many of our own governments who are involved in this to varying degrees. We give thanks for the individuals and groups daring to challenge, often at great personal cost, even of their lives, and hold to account those perpetrating such destructive practices. You are the God of truth, justice and what we rarely speak about now, “righteousness”.

I choose to trust in You, God, and with Your help, unafraid go on. Keep hope alive for all those who look and trust in You so others too may come to know You and Your love.

“Strong in the everlasting name, and in my Father’s care”…

The widespread epidemic of violence of gun and knife crime, and using sex as a weapon of violence is destroying lives and communities throughout the world but with especial focus on India, Canada, the UK, the USA, South Africa, and the Middle East.

We give thanks for many initiatives both at national and local levels to combat this globally including Boston, USA as far back as 1995, inspiring others in Scotland and now England.

I choose to trust in You, God, who hears and answers prayer.

Daily, let our prayer be that in all we seek to be and do as individuals and communities, we choose to be safe in the shadow of You, our Lord, our God and Redeemer. Possessed by Your divine love, help us to trust in You and meet Your unfathomable love with our puny and sometimes swithering love and, so, be participants in transforming and transfiguring all of Your Creation of which we are part. Power in Your terms is Love. May we become people of such power. AMEN.

World News This Week in Prayer, Thursday, February 28, 2019

Longing for light, we wait in darkness.

Longing for truth, we turn to you.

Make us your own, your holy people,

Light for the world to see.

Christ, be our light! Shine in our hearts.

Shine through the darkness.

Christ, be our light! Shine in your church gathered today.

Words and music by Bernadette Farrell

Tune: Christ, Be Our Light

O God, there are days when the light seems dim, when our hearts are torn apart, and so we come to you in prayer for:

those within the United Methodist Church in the United States whose hearts are breaking over the decision to continue to forbid same-sex marriages and the ordination of LGBTQIA clergy;
those whose lives are breaking due to toll that clergy sex-abuse within the Roman Catholic and Southern Baptist churches has taken on them;
and those who continue to use your Name and Word to bludgeon others into submission to their way of believing.

For all these children of yours, we pray for your light to shine and grant them hearts of compassion and peace;

God of grace, hear us.

O God, there are days when the light seems almost gone, when our hearts are confused and angry, and so we come to you in prayer for:

the leaders of the United States and North Korea who are meeting in Vietnam to discuss denuclearization;
the parliament of Britain as they struggle with a decision regarding Brexit;
the government of Venezuela, as they destroy humanitarian aid at the border with Brazil, preventing it from reaching their people who are in desperate need;
the governments of India and Pakistan, as animosity and military action between the two countries escalates.

For all these children of yours, we pray for your light to shine and grant them hearts of wisdom and justice;

God of grace, hear us.

O God, there are days when the light begins to shine again and our hearts are filled with hope, and so we come to you in prayer for:

the House of Representatives of the United States voting to invalidate the emergency declaration regarding border security;
the on-going work of the American Civil Liberties Union to prevent further separation of families at the U.S.-Mexico border and to re-unite families already separated;
the courageous young people, continuing the March for Our Lives Movement and the countless women worldwide in the #MeToo movement, all working to shine the light on the need for gun control and on sexual abuse.

For all these children of yours, we pray that your light continues to shine to grant them hearts of courage and daring;

God of grace, hear us.

For all these people and situations, we pray, confident in your hearing, healing presence in our lives and in our world, as we sing:

Many the gifts, many the people,

Many the hearts that yearn to belong.

Let us be servants to one another,

Signs of your kingdom come.

Christ, be our light! Shine in our hearts.

Shine through the darkness.

Christ, be our light! Shine in your church gathered today.

Amen. Let it be so.

World News in Prayer – Thursday, 14th February 2019

Creator God,

It doesn’t seem enough to say we thank you for the beauty of your creation. When we think of all that happened from the growth of our planet, its place in the solar system and the most we can say is “thanks”. You know the gratitude of our hearts, the deep meaning we want to place on these words, you accept and understand. Thank you, our God.

This week Lord, the doomsayers have been out in force: the increasing loss of the icecaps and glaciers; the effect of insecticides, even those long banned, on all insects; the threat to wildlife from dogs and domestic cats turned feral. Then a sliver of good news: NASA satellite data shows an increase in leaf area on plants and trees across the amazon; India and China are planting major areas with trees.

This week, a teenager in Ohio, USA has used technology to research vaccinations and has now received them. Teenagers in Bristol, England have researched the bus boycott of 1963 and discovered their missing history. For the power of the internet for good we give thanks.

This week, emergency supplies pile up and rot in Hudayah, Yemen and on the Columbia / Venezuela border, we pray that warring politicians will see the harm they do in power struggles and the power of the internet will become good for their countries.

This week as more warnings about dams holding toxic sludge emerge and other industrial mining problems become widely known we pray for the people of Brazil and the open cast mining areas of Appalachia, USA.

This week, Lord, help us to understand what we have done to our planet and how we need to make changes in our lives. Wild fires have burned across Tasmania, Australia and New Zealand; the effects of last autumn’s fires still devastate lives across California, USA; floods across Chile and Northern Australia; from Cincinnati to California, USA we recognise the multiple environmental crisis across the world.

We give thanks for the many small steps being taken by individuals and groups across the world to highlight and tackle this. Machynlleth, Wales has become the first town in Wales to declare a “climate emergency”, following the example of others globally. It is focussing on measures to dramatically reduce its carbon footprint. Villagers in Jenjarom, Malaysia are fighting to have the government close illegal factories dealing with Western rubbish poisoning their land, water and air.

The heavens declare your glory, God. Help us rediscover the sacred in our world and environment which you have made so we “touch the earth lightly”*.

Thank you for hearing our prayer and for your answers.

Amen

*”Touch the Earth lightly” – (New Zealand), Lyrics: Shirley Erena Murray Music: Tenderness – Colin Gibson

World News This Week in Prayer- Thursday, October 11, 2018

(Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer, Prayers of the People Form VI)

In peace, we pray to you, Lord God.

Silence

For all people in their daily life and work;
For our families, friends, and neighbors, and for those who are alone.

For this community, the nation, and the world; for the victims of Hurricane Michael in the United States; for all of the participants in the #MeToo movement, which is erupting in India;
For all who work for justice, freedom, and peace.

For the just and proper use of your creation; for scientists, doctors, and nurses; for those who are grieving; for those who are marrying or divorcing; for those celebrating a new birth;
For the victims of hunger, fear, injustice, and oppression,

For all who are in danger, sorrow, or any kind of trouble, especially those in China‘s Xingiang region, where camps have been legalized to “re-educate” Muslim Uighurs;
For those who minister to the sick, the friendless, and the needy.

For peace and unity, especially in the Eastern Orthodox Church, as a Ukrainian sect seeks to separate from Russia;
For all who proclaim the Gospel, and all who seek the Truth.

For bishops and other ministers; for priests and preachers; for rabbis and imams;
For all who serve God in his Church.

For the special needs and concerns of this congregation.

Silence

(The People may add their own petitions)

Hear us, Lord;

We thank you, Lord, for all the blessings of this life.

Silence

(The People may add their own thanksgivings)

We will exalt you, O God our King;
And praise your Name for ever and ever.

We pray for all who have died, that they may have a place in
your eternal kingdom.

Silence

(The People may add their own petitions)

Lord, let your loving-kindness be upon each of us;
We put our trust in you, for your mercy is great. Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer, Thursday, October 4, 2018

Holy One,

Shape our prayers to the Gospel of Your Son. Teach us to see as you see and to feel as you feel. This is our prayer.

This day and each day, we lift up our prayers for each and every person who needs to see you in their lives and to feel your presence around them. We pray for hope in the midst of everything that goes on around us. We pray for the faith that when we, all Your people of every background, come together, good things can happen. This is our prayer.

We pray for the survivors of the plane crash last week near an island runway in Micronesia, we are grateful for their lives. And we pray for the one person who was killed, as we mourn this loss. May all who are affected find comfort in Your loving arms.

May we remember that each member of your divine design, no matter how far away, is connected to each of us as a sibling through Your love. This is our prayer.

We pray for the survivors of the earthquake and tsunami in Sulawesi, Indonesia, where thousands were injured and more than 70,000 were displaced. We pray for the thousands who were killed and mourn these losses. May all who are affected find strength and be given help as their lives are now so drastically changed. May we offer what we can to show them that they are never alone, especially when dealing with such great loss. This is our prayer.

We pray for the survivors of sexual assault around the world whose voices are silenced, who are too afraid to speak up, who have been told they ‘asked for it.’ May they reclaim their voice and find strength to release themselves from any burdens of shame or guilt.

As the hearings for Brett Kavanaugh took place this past week in the United States and deliberations for his vote into the Supreme Court are about to take place, shine Your light on the decision makers that they may be guided by Your love. May we be emboldened to fight against ingrained attitudes of oppression and dominance as we work toward a more just world. This is our prayer.

We pray for communities that come together, like the Kudumbashree, the all-female volunteers in Kerala, India, who have volunteered hours of their time every day to clean up their neighborhoods and towns since the catastrophic flooding in August. May they accomplish even more than their wildest dreams. May we be inspired to work together for the good of all of your creation. This is our prayer.

As we long to see your reign here on Earth, give us the endurance and loving hearts to do Your work as we await that day. This is our prayer. Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer, Thursday, September 13, 2018

“So we can say with confidence, with boldness, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.’ ” Hebrews 12:6

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.

Words and music: Thomas Dorsey Tune: PRECIOUS LORD

Precious Lord, around and about this incredible world of yours, your children are being threatened by the forces of nature: in the southeastern United States by Hurricane Florence; in the Philippines and Hong Kong by Typhoon Mangkhut; in Hawaii by Tropical Storm Olivia. And our overwhelming response is fear, as we worry about the impending damage from wind and rain.. Uplift us, Loving God. Fill us with the confidence that whatever befalls, you are with us. God of grace and mercy, hear our prayer.

God of Peace, around and about this hurting world of yours, your children are threatened by ongoing wars and their sequelae. News of massive military drills being held by Russia and China; air strikes in rebel-held Idlib province in Syria by the Syrian government and the suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, resulting in 68 dead and 165 injured bring worry and suffering. The crackdown in China against minority Muslim groups, especially the Uyghurs, with tens of thousands being sent to political re-education camps causes deep concern and grief. And our overwhelming response is a sense of helplessness, as we see ourselves as unable to make a difference. Uplift these, your own, Loving God. Fill them with confidence and hope that whatever befalls, you are with them and our loving concern supports them. God of courage and hope, hear our prayer.

God of Compassion and Justice, around and about this wonderful world of yours, your children are reaching out to one another in love and daring which we celebrate: Harper Nielson, the 9-year-old Australian schoolgirl, daring to protest her perceived injustice of the national anthem; Elissa Montanti of Staten Island, New York, founding an organization, Global Medical Relief Fund, to bring children injured in war or by natural disasters to the United States for medical care unavailable to them in their home countries; the courage of the Supreme Court of India for their landmark decision to legalize and decriminalize consensual gay sex. Uplift them all, Loving God. Fill them and us with a sense of justice which gives us courage to stand up for what is right. God of all people, hear our prayer.

When our way grows drear,

precious Lord, linger near,

when our lives are almost gone,

hear our cry, hear our call,

hold our hands lest we fall,

Take our hands, precious Lord, lead us home. Amen and amen

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, August 23, 2018

God of compassion

God of green earth and snow
God of darkness
And illumination
God of new things
And of things torn apart
God of waters and maker of dry land
God of tender souls clinging
God in this moment and across all sunrises and the universe

Help us to understand our place in this troubled world, this vast and complex mystery. We ask for a deepening of our caring for our neighbor.

Be with the people of Kerala, India, with nearly 800,000 living in 4,000 emergency relief camps. Sustain them as monsoons continue to cause massive flooding, landslides, and strain resources. Be with rescue teams as they move people to safety. Support community leaders as they discern where to turn their attention in this catastrophe – to straining dams, deforested areas, impassable roads and railways. Comfort those who mourn the over 350 dead and missing.

Bring comfort to the people of Ghazni, Afghanistan, under siege as war continues. Be with those fleeing, those in harm’s way and those unable to leave. Have mercy on the suffering and be with those who have lost over 400 loved ones. Comfort those in the Shia neighborhood of Dasht-e-Barchi who mourn the 34 people killed in a suicide bomb attack in front of the education center in Kabul. Bring relief to the injured and those who mourn as a cease-fire offer receives further rocket launches, killings and abductions.

Come Holy Spirit, walk the streets of Pacaraima, Brazil, as residents are attacking migrant encampments of people fleeing Venezuela. Open the borders of our hearts to recognition of the universal need for a home.

Care for your people in Indonesia and especially on the quaking island of Lombok. Landslides, unstable and stressed buildings, people moved to living in tents, so much loss in this catastrophe. We ask for your compassion for those who mourn for the dead, 436 and rising. Sustain the hearts and hands of those who rescue and tend.

Teach us to love in powerful ways, in earnest ways that speak out against malice, prejudice and injustice. Bring wisdom, right action and compassion during the unprecedented worldwide displacement of over 68.5 million people. Protect and sustain the 44,000 people newly displaced today and each day around the world. Open the hearts of those who want to deny refugees a place of safety – in the US, for example, where President Trump’s administration is rumored to be considering a second sharp reduction in the number of refugees who can be resettled in the country.

Be with the people of Assam, India, as their leaders sort citizens from non-citizens. Help us to grow in humanity, called insaniyat in Hindi.

Sustain the teams who courageously work at the wildfire front lines day and night, with nearly 2 million acres burning in the US and 2,500 hectares in Canada, with yet more fires around the world, from The Great Dividing Range, Australia, to the coast of Greece. Comfort those who flee waiting to return uncertain of what they will find. Bring strength to those involved in the longer-term care, as overwhelming anxiety and grief is sorted and sense made of loss. Protect the wildlife. Protect us all from the consequences of the ashes spreading through the atmosphere, even to places distant from the fires themselves.

Holy Spirit come beside us. May we speak words that offer dignity and R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Inspire us even in these times of dread to make a joyful noise and walk in your light.

God of Love
God of fields and harvests
Of clouds, rivers and forests
God of night
And of broad noonday
God of the broken, sick and near death
God of the healed
God in this moment and across all sunsets and the universe
We call to you with these prayers for the people.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, August 16, 2018

God, today is one of those days when it is hard to pray. One of the days when life feels so overwhelming that shutting down might seem like the best option. And on days like today, we have this community of prayer that lifts us up. Right now, we pray for each one reading this prayer right now, each one hearing this prayer right now, and each one needing prayer right now. Although we may be unknown to each other, we are known to you, O God of all people.

Whatever our daily lives may bring, it can be easy for us to get caught up in ourselves and forget You and Your beloved children. We often look past the struggles of others and choose frustration rather than empathy. We often see one another as competition rather than brothers and sisters. Help us to really see, and know, each other – that we may feel our connection to You and to Your world more and more each day, we pray.

Holy One, we lift up our prayers for your Divine creation all over the world:

For the 48 people who have been killed and the 67 who were injured in the suicide bomb explosion at an education center in Kabul, Afghanistan.
For the 39 victims of a collapsed bridge in Genoa, Italy, and the survivors of the 40 vehicles that fell 45m (148′) in Tuesday’s collapse.
For the thousands of victims of the abuse by more than 300 priests accused of sexual abuse in Pennsylvania, USA, over several decades.
For the 47 or more people who overdosed on synthetic marijuana, or K2, in New Haven, CT, USA on Wednesday.
For the more than 21 victims of the boat carrying school children that sank crossing a flooded area near the Nile River in Sudan, Africa.
For the more than 100 people thought to be dead in devastating monsoon floods in India – the worst in almost a century.

Comfort those experiencing grief and loss. Relieve those who are suffering. Bring strength to those who are hospitalized, confined to homes, or undergoing tests. We pray the day when we all recognize that no matter where we are from in the world, what we look like, or what we believe, we are bound together as one human family.

Eternal God, by whose power we are created and by whose love we are sustained, although we know You are always with us, on the days when it is hard to pray for ourselves, on the days when Your love may feel a little further from us, may we be lifted up by our sisters and brothers, who You have created for this very purpose. And on the days when we feel strong, may we be moved to honor Your creation with our thoughts, prayers, and actions.

We ask all of these things in Your many Holy names. Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, August 2, 2018

On God alone I wait silently;
God my deliverer, God my strong tower.
Paraphrase from Ps. 62, John L. Bell*

When all efforts have been made to cope with natural disasters:
the earthquake in Lombok, Indonesia;
the wildfires in California, USA, Sweden, Siberia, Russian Federation, Greece,
water shortages in Yemen, the UK, Syria, Kenya;

On God alone I wait silently; God my deliverer, God my strong tower.

When people are exhausted from the struggles against injustice and terror:
those forced to care for the children of imprisoned gang members in El Salvador;
the Zimbabweans fearing their Presidential election has been hijacked again;
refugees in the US, Sweden, the European Union, Canada, India, Bangladesh, Turkey, Australia and so many other countries;

On God alone I wait silently; God my deliverer, God my strong tower.

When people seek to care for their fellow human beings in need:
Maria Makrogianni (Mama Maria) of Samos, Greece, still feeding refugees from
home having been forced to close her restaurant due to threats on her life;
firefighters (including prisoners) and people of all faiths and none helping those
burned out in Shasta County, California US;
all who act as care givers (paid or unpaid), medics, police, firefighters,
those who keep our communities clean and safe, often with little thanks;

On God alone I wait silently; God my deliverer, God my strong tower.

When families are changing, new life is being formed and others prepare to leave this earthly life:
give us all a sense of thankfulness and proportion as to what is real or imaginary;
help us nurture truth rather than deceit;
humility rather than hubris;
tenderness, love and compassion rather than aggression, hatred and division.
Despite all we like to think, we are not in charge. You are; and we believe you have
a purpose for every season, even the waiting one.

On God alone I wait silently; God my deliverer, God my strong tower. Amen.