Iraq

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, 7 January 2021

Editor’s note: World In Prayer needs a few more writers and editors! Our team consists of 12-15 volunteers, from several different countries and continents. Each week, one person writes the prayers in response to international news. A second person then edits and posts the prayers online. Because we rotate who writes and edits, you would end up serving approximately once every five or six weeks.

Due to life changes, some of our team members need to cut back. So, we’re looking for people who deeply care about our world, see God’s hand at work throughout all creation and all persons, and are inspired to help write and produce these prayers. If you are interested, please send an email to worldinprayer@aol.com.

Though I may speak with bravest fire,
And have the gift to all inspire,
And have not love; my words are vain;
as sounding brass, and hopeless gain.

Though I may give all I possess,
And striving so my love profess,
But not be giv’n by love within,
The profit soon turns strangely thin. [i]

Our shining Child,
Out of the Nativity you call to all nations, all peoples.

Yet nations build walls, lay mines and militarize their borders. Watchtowers are built and billions in electronic surveillance deployed. O little town of Bethlehem, a beloved carol, is today a town suffering, partitioned. Help us to reconcile these injustices as land is taken, houses destroyed and people’s movement severely restricted. Walls comprise a growing Border Industrial Complex in 2021. We pray for the peoples in Israel where six walls exist; in Morocco, Iran and India each having three walls; South Africa, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Hungary and Lithuania each with two walls, and all countries who violate human rights in this new and growing apartheid.[ii] We pray mightily for the peoples of Syria nearly surrounded as five nations have put up walls for a people utterly displaced and ravaged. Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy.

We pray for those who seek asylum and are “neither here, nor there.” We pray for those who have traveled unbelievable distances and through unimaginable harms to be turned away, silenced, detained and imprisoned. Be with us in this complex suffering. It feels so upside down. We pray for those from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador the so called Northern Triangle where so many have fled due to record levels of violence, torture and death. Our spirits long as we hear how severe the terror must be for parents to send their children alone to flee.[iii] They cross into Mexico and the US. We pray for the Rohingya in Myanmar escaping genocide and now displaced in Bangladesh. Guard them. Sustain them. We pray for the leaders in all of these countries.

We pray for those who grow, harvest and transport food that we may take for granted in these times where shelves are stocked and gas seems plenty, … and in these same times where COVID and famine and war keep house together in Yemen[iv] and now South Sudan, Burkina Faso and northeastern Nigeria, and where 16 other countries are entering famine where children are the first to silently suffer and die. Though I may give all I possess.

We pray where reports of war, political instability, civil war, humanitarian strife and years of occupation are endured. We call out in prayer for peace in Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq, South Sudan, Somalia, Venezuela, Mali, Lebanon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Republic of Congo, the US and Iran relations, the India and Pakistan conflict, North Korea, between Israel and Palestine, the terrorizing by the Boko Haram in Nigeria, the criminal violence in Mexico, the enmity of Turkey and Kurdish troops, Egypt, and Ukraine. Lord have mercy.

The news of the world is on our radios, TV, laptops, phones, newspapers and word of mouth. We hear of protests in streets. We hear of the breaking of curfews and mass gatherings as during a rave in France. We hear of rage and violence in the US, including the shocking invasion of the US Capitol by reactionary factions, who have been goaded on for months by the words of elected officials. Help us to remember and live out the truth that, in the words of U.S. Senate Chaplain Barry C. Black, “…words matter, and the power of life and death is in the tongue.” The news tolls of the police shooting of Andre Hill in Columbus, Ohio, USA as Casey Goodson, Jr. was being laid to rest after a sheriff’s deputy shot and killed him at the doorstep of his Columbus home earlier this month. We grieve and are angered, we march, we lay flowers and light candles. Help us to discern right action lest – My words are vain; as sounding brass.

The news tolls the deaths from COVID19, the overflow in hospitals, surge upon surge. We pray for the teams that know no border at the bedside, vaccine clinic, lab or as first responders. We are hopeful for the multitude of COVID vaccines coming to communities. We call for equity in vaccine distribution as developing nations manifest such a great need. May the wealthy countries dig deeper to stave off further crisis. Unify us in this time of horrendous loss of life and the devastation that has reached in some way into each of our homes and neighborhoods and circles the globe. Protect those in severe economic insecurity from further debt and eviction. Help us to universalize health care access. We pray in gratitude as increased access to women’s health care in Argentina is manifested. Comfort the grieving in every nation, in every town and village. Our spirits long.

We pray for the journalist teams that film, write and publish with risk of death as they give voice and document the injustices around the world. Help us to listen as they lift these tentative voices to the world’s stage. Help each of us to find our voice, and remind those of us with public platforms of our deep responsibility to speak the truth in love. Magnify the Good News. May it stream through all of these spaces – guide every deed.

Help us to honor the multitude of indigenous peoples[v] who keep the land and guard it’s teachings. We pray that the pressures of extraction that degrade rivers, displace tribes and communities, and cultivate institutional racism can be acknowledged for what they are – social and environmental and climate injustices – as they have been through the ages. The marginalized are among us and in the news daily. These transgressions trample our relationship to you, your kin-dom, and all of creation. Help us to hear and heed their warnings. Repair these wrongs. Reconcile us to right action. Come spirit.

Bring us to a new accounting and clarity in these opening days of 2021. Forgive us for the deeds done that cannot be undone, the sins and trespasses and willfulness that did not serve. Open our hearts to inward love, to one and other, nation-to-nation in a new way – in the Good News you gave to the world–of Christ’s birth, his baptism, journey to the cross and resurrection. Help us to forgive one another as we are sheltered and made whole by this great love. Help us to repair, restore and amend what is ours to do. Lord in your great compassion hear us.

Come, spirit, come, our hearts control,
Our spirits long to be made whole,
Let inward love guide every deed;
By this we worship and are freed.[vi]

Amen.

[ii] https://www.tni.org/en/walledworld

[iii] https://www.wola.org/analysis/children-fleeing-violence-central-america-face-dangers-mexico/

[iv] https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/02/opinion/sunday/2020-worst-year-famine.html

[v] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_indigenous_peoples

[vi] Hopson

World News This Week in Prayer – Thurs., Dec. 10, 2020

Dear God,

We know this above all things – your steadfast love endures beyond all things here on this earth and beyond this earth. We know this, and yet we still struggle. We know that we are your people, and we also know that you most certainly are our God. Although we know we can rest in this certainty, Lord, there is so much more that we are so very uncertain about – so much that we don’t know. So much to worry about that we sometimes find ourselves frozen unknowing what to do next.

God, we give to you the things we are uncertain about, because many of us truly don’t know what may be next in each of our lives.

We are uncertain about our jobs, our livelihood, the things which allow us to not worry about where our next meals may come from and keep us safe in the places we call home. We are uncertain about our health and the health of the ones we hold dear. We have lost some of our dearest people due to all kinds of illnesses, including Covid-19. As the numbers of those infected and those who have died continue to climb in the U.S. and around the world to levels we never imagined, we are uncertain about our own lives.

Although we pray we may stay healthy – we are uncertain about how much time we each have on this earth. We are uncertain about how to take care of those we love – knowing that we must stay away in order to care for one another. We are uncertain about what our world is going to look like in the next weeks, months, and years, and how it will change and become a different place than we remember.

We are uncertain, Lord. Deeply uncertain, but as we look toward this next week in the season of Advent – we look towards this week which encompasses joy.

We find joy and hope even in the places where there seems to be no goodness. We see the tensions in Venezuela due to the election. We worry as we see more than 300 people in southeastern India hospitalized with an unidentified illness. Our hearts ache as we see violence in Ethiopia, Sudan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria. We grieve the losses, including at least seven people have been killed in ongoing violent protests in northern Iraq.

Even as we see violence and our neighbors being hurt, we find hope in the helpers. And even more, we find joy in you, and in those making a difference even amidst terror.
We see joy, Lord, in the faces that light up when a Zoom call is first opened and we see people we haven’t seen in a long time.
We recognize joy, as we see people come together to lift up marginalized voices.
We hear joy in our middle and high schoolers who choose to have difficult conversations about topics that matter.
We feel joy as we keep going – as we continue doing some of the things we enjoy in an altered way.

We have joy and hope, Lord. And for this joy we are so grateful. We have joy, Lord, because it is you who gives us the joy that runs through our bodies. The joy that you are greater and can give us more possibilities than we could ever imagine. The joy that we can be absolutely certain, that even if our world may be breaking, our very bodies might be giving out, our jobs may not be there tomorrow, our dearest friends and family may be unhappy with us – even with all of this – we are absolutely certain that you fill us with a joy that will lift us up. Help us, Lord, to spread this unbelievable joy to every single person we meet – so that we may not hold this for ourselves, but so that this world might have a glimmer of your infinite and amazing joy.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer- Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020

In 1925, Pope Pius XI established the Feast of Christ the King, also known as Christ the King Sunday, as a corrective to a major worldwide shift toward nationalism. This feast day is included in the Revised Common Lectionary and is celebrated by most mainline Protestant denominational groups.

O Christ, what can it mean for us To claim you as our king?

What royal face have you revealed Whose praise the Church would sing?

Aspiring not to glory’s height, To power, wealth, and fame,

You walked a diff’rent, lowly way, Another’s will your aim.

Though some would make their greatness felt And lord it over all,

You said the first must be the last And service be our call.

O Christ, in workplace, church, and home Let none to power cling;

For still, through us, you come to serve, A diff’rent kind of king.

O Christ, What Can It Mean For Us

Evangelical Lutheran Worship #431 Verses 1 & 3 Text by Delores Dufner

O Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords, our world is full of examples of what makes a good king: ruthlessness, violence, vengeance, selfish ambition, and the accumulation of power. Even as we celebrate Christ the King Sunday, rightly claiming you as the center of the universe and center of our lives, we hypocritically bow down to many other kings: the King of Wealth, the King of Power, the King of Control. Help us to see these so-called “kings” for what they really are, feeble attempts to claim your crown in all times and places:

– In Afghanistan, where evidence of the murder of dozens of civilians by Australian special forces has been revealed;

– In Italy, France, India, the United States, Brazil, and other nations that have failed to control the spread of COVID-19 because of lack policies and selfish choices;

– In Ethiopia, where thousands of civilians are fleeing unrest in the Tigray region and entering Sudan on foot because of the violence and danger in their homes.

Pierce our hearts, O Christ, with your call to love and serve as you do, and remind us that true power lies in the repudiation of power, and true glory comes only through bowing low in service. Open our eyes to your work in our world:

– In Vietnam, where a rapid and coordinated response to COVID-19 has kept cases and death very low while supporting a strong economy;

– In Iraq, where the Yazidi community faithfully celebrate the naming of a new religious and spiritual leader for their people despite years of oppression by the Islamic State;

– In Saudi Arabia, where the first women’s football (soccer) league has been formed, reversing years of policies against the inclusion of women in sporting activities.

As we honor and praise you this day and every day, O Christ, purge us of our tendencies toward loyalty to the kings of power, wealth, and fame, and fill us with the servant leadership and servant love you embodied in your earthly ministry and continue to support in us for the sake of your beloved creation. We ask this in the name of the one who emptied himself so that we too might become children of God, serving all and loving all in your name. Amen.

World News in Prayer – August 6, 2020

Dear Lord, help us to hear these voices.

I pray today that my knees and back hold up. I pray that my mom and children are ok in our two-bedroom apartment while I work at a hotel and clean 15 rooms each day. I pray that my paycheck will be enough, that my car holds up, that someone cares about me enough to say “hello” to give a smile.

There are approximately 926,960 maids and housekeeping cleaners in the U.S. Sometimes cleaners are assigned 30 rooms in a day.

Across the barrier of our indifference awaken us to the other, help us to understand the burdens they carry, oh Christ, by your grace. May we understand the equity built into a living wage, the costs of health care and child care, housing and food, transportation, and school supplies.

I was a child soldier in Liberia, but first I was a schoolboy. I still pray for my grandparents. The soldiers arrived and took me away. I was taught to fight. Smoking drugs would energize us. The war is over, long over and many of us are trying to get off of drugs. I pray that I can leave this sad life. What price must I pay for my country’s war. I pray that I am not abandoned and shunned. I pray that God will protect me and hear my voice.

The UN investigates and reports on child soldiers. The top-ranking countries are Afghanistan, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Myanmar, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, and Yemen. Children as young as eight are used as combatants, guards, human shields, porters, messengers, spies, cooks, and/or for sexual purposes. Girl soldiers are often used as “wives” and sexually abused by their commanders and other soldiers. Iraq’s Kurdish and Yezidi children were recruited. Myanmar children are forcibly recruited into the National Army. In Nigeria girls, ages 7 and 8 were used as suicide bombers. In Somalia over 900 children were recruited and posted at checkpoints. Two factions in South Sudan have taken over 17,000 children. In Syria, warring sides have recruited children as young as seven, half are under age 15. They have been exploited in propaganda videos. In Yemen, where we pray that those suffering from starvation will be cared for, boys are recruited to fight on all sides.

Across the world where these horrendous injustices continue against the most vulnerable, their childhood swept away, torn from their families, oh Christ by your grace we call out against war and these atrocities. Help us to take right action. Help us to speak out against militarization. We pray for those suffering and the loss to their families.

Will my land flood and be silted over taking away our livelihood? I feel there is nothing to do but wait and watch. I pray we will be safe and not lose everything. The wind is picking up and the rain has already been falling.

River flooding in population-dense countries includes India, Bangladesh, China, Vietnam, Pakistan, Indonesia, Egypt, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Brazil, Thailand, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, and Cambodia.

Oh, Christ in your mercy, protect these countries from what seems to be inevitable flooding and a cycle of loss and destitution. We pray for those in harm’s way around the world. Give us the ability to work together to share resources and contribute knowledge to reduce this suffering. Be with the emergency transport, the health care workers, the utility crews, the engineers, and their teams as they design and plan and understand the rivers that bring life and death.

We are the over 1,700 health care workers who have died of COVID 19. We did our work, loved our work, trained many years, endured long hours, cried and spoke out and then we too became sick. We were not indifferent or complacent. We pray this pandemic will end that the billions of people under this veil of suffering will find comfort that leaders will come together in reason and generosity of heart and mind.

Medscape publishes the names of workers around the world. We name these few in remembrance of so many. Onyenachi Obasi, 51 Nurse, National Health Service, Barking and Dagenham, London, England. Morteza Vojdan, age unknown, General Practitioner, Mashhad, Iran. Patricia Wilke, 63, Pharmacist, Winslow, Arizona. Valeriu Pripa, 59, Head of Radiological Imaging Department, Chisinau, Moldova. Rosalinda “Rose” Pulido, 46, Oncologist, San Juan de Dios Hospital, Pasay City Philippines. Freddy Pow Hing, 59, Interventional Cardiologist, Hospital IESS Duran, Duran, Ecuador. Anonymous, 62, Organ Transplantation, Wuhan, China. Oh Christ, in your compassion and mercy give us the will to endure, care, and remember.

We’re still in shock; we’re still refusing to believe that something happened. We still think it’s like a dream or something. It was terrifying. It was horrible.

Residents of Beruit, Lebanon are reeling after an explosion of ammonium nitrate leveled the port injuring at least 50,00 people and leaving at least 137 dead. Residents have been working together to clear the rubble and investigations seeking to determine responsibility are underway as residents grieve and begin to rebuild from the devastation.

I am a tree, a forest, a bird, a butterfly, a bumblebee and a bat I have no human voice, my habitat is shrinking and yet I cling to beautiful nature. Hear my song, the wind moving in the fir, the singing wetland, the happy buzz and light wings. Receive our offerings.

Oh Lord, we have trespassed on our own earth, we have stolen and killed, sprayed and paved over, and cut down without thought to 7 generations. Forgive us. Approximately 30,000 species per year — about three per hour — are being driven to extinction. Where is our mindfulness? Nearly 80 percent of species diversity of our world is destroyed because of habitat loss — approximately 5,760 acres per day or 240 acres per hour. Christ in your mercy awaken us to our stewardship. Help us to live and step lightly.

Oh Lord, call us to your table of life. Remind us of the mighty work we need to do to care for each and all. Rest us at night and renew us for this day that is before us.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, July 16, 2020

This week’s prayer contains excerpts from The [Episcopal] Book of Common Prayer.

Lord God, today we gather in Your name, though most of us not in the indoor spaces that have come to symbolize gathering spaces for those seeking truth, justice, and faith. Many of us struggle to feel the sacred or even simple connection through a computer screen. And yet, here we are, gathering and struggling and trying to find holiness. Give grace to your servants, O Lord.

Almighty God, you proclaim your truth in every age by many voices: Direct those who speak where many listen and write what many read, that they may do their part in making the heart of this people wise, its mind sound, and its will righteous. Give grace to your servants, O Lord.

O Lord, we pray for the countries where COVID-19 cases are increasing, notably the United States, India, Mexico, South Africa, Colombia, Argentina, Iraq, Indonesia, and Oman. (Click on the link above, then scroll down below the map to see the statistics for each country, and, if you wish, to pray by name for every country currently being affected by the virus.) Give grace to your servants, O Lord.

Mother God, we come to you full of grief. We find ourselves going through the stages of grief—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance—many times each day. Grant us the grace and space to grieve for our own losses, and the grace and space to allow others to grieve theirs: the displacement of children from their schools and playgrounds today and the displacement of Black children for generations, the isolation of the elderly today and of the marginalized throughout history, the power of protest or silence. Give grace to your servants, O Lord.

Lord Jesus, when you came among us, you proclaimed the kingdom of God in villages, towns, and lonely places. Have mercy upon all who live and work in rural areas. May their far-flung health care providers receive the training and resources they need to save lives. Give grace to your servants, O Lord.

O God, behold and visit the cities of the earth. Renew the ties of mutual regard which form our civic life. Send us honest and able leaders. Enable us to eliminate racism and violence so that men and women from different cultures and with differing talents may find with one another the fulfillment of their humanity. Give grace to your servants, O Lord.

God our Father, whose Son had nowhere to lay his head: Grant that those who live alone may not be lonely in their solitude, but that, following in Jesus’ steps, they may find fulfillment in loving you. Even though so many of us around the world right now are never alone, we feel lonely. We miss communing, and we also miss conversations with strangers. We have sacrificed anniversaries and graduations and weddings and birthdays and birth plans in order to keep our communities safe. Give grace to your servants, O Lord.

We pray for our religious leaders and essential workers.
We pray for ourselves as we grapple with the lies of omission from our history lessons.
We pray for health care workers and death care industry personnel.
We pray for the unemployed.
We pray that scientists not be at war with politicians.

Give grace to your servants, O Lord. Help us to grieve so that we may heal. Amen.

World News in Prayer – Thursday, 12th March 2020

Every little thing is sent for something, and in that thing there should be happiness and the power to make happy. Like the grasses showing tender faces to each other, thus we should do, for this was the wish of the

Grandfathers of the World. Black Elk, (1863-1950)

Oh God, we read these words from a holy man who lived not so long ago. We have heard in the Gospel of Matthew Jesus’s words to his disciples of certain strength in the meek. We are reminded of his teachings to care for the poor and the least or marginalized. We remember that Jesus came humbly and joyfully into Jerusalem on a donkey with her colt – not the horse a symbol of war.

The ways and acts of peace are tender. They seem fleeting and small. Help us like the very grasses to act with hearts shining toward each other. As we turn to each other we ask that we may we see the other. Help us to pass the peace and love you have offered us through your son Jesus Christ.

We are grateful for the communication systems that connect each country through reporting and analyzing data to understand the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is on our minds night and day.

We are grateful for the common sense public health measures and call to action of simple hand washing not hand wringing.

We pause in our hearts. We grieve for the families whose elders have been swept away by the virus. Replace fear during increasing lockdowns with focus and quiet action. Help us in unforeseen ways to grow in our understanding of our connectedness. Safeguard the emergency and health care teams and families exposed across the continents. We name them out loud thinking of the peoples in locked down regions…knowing the list will grow.

Africa – Algeria, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa

Americas – Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador,

Guadalupe, Mexico, United States

Eastern Mediterranean – Afghanistan, Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates

Europe – Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Herzegovina, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia (23%), San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom

Southeast Asia – Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand

Western Pacific – Australia, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, New Zealand, North Korea, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russia (77%), Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam

In celebration of International Women’s Day this past Sunday there comes singing, clapping and dancing, tears and laughter. Help us to receive the wisdom from indigenous women of the Ecuadorian Tribal Nations of Kofan, Siona, Siekopai and Waorani peoples as we hear their voices: “We are at the forefront of our peoples’ struggles and victories against the exploitation of our natural resources of extractive industries. From monitoring our territories and confronting emerging invasions to leading sustainable economic alternatives to resource extraction and shaping a vision for the education of our children and grandchildren, we are creating solutions for the long-term protection of a forest we all depend upon for life. And now, we are also training to become journalists and filmmakers in order to share our stories and struggles from a female perspective.” Lord we ask you to amplify their words: “We come with love and peace, we, women from four indigenous nations of the Western Amazon in Ecuador, are fighting against the threats to our forest.”

We end this weeks prayers for the hungry – the over 820 million people who have suffered from hunger in 2018, the greatest number since 2010 as reported by the World Meteorological Organization released this past Wednesday.

We ask for your mercy in these times.

Increase our compassion.

Sustain us in doing your will.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, 5 March, 2020

Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin. …

(God said) I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you…. ~. Psalm 32:5, 8. (NIV)

Lord, in the busyness of our lives and at times overwhelming news and pressures, we want to curl up and close out all that disturbs or scares us. But you call us out to follow you, where you want to lead us.

Come, Lord, come and take our fear away; replace it with your love.

The fear of the Covid19 virus affects all aspects of our life wherever we are in the world: industry, supply of medicines, travel, social get-togethers, work and especially for those in the high-risk groups often those most vulnerable and on the margins of society. We remember especially the millions in the already overcrowded unsanitary conditions of refugee camps with very little access to clean water or health care. We give thanks for those caring for the sick, and those researching how best to combat and defeat this virus.

Come, Lord, come and take our fear away; replace it with your love.

For those suffering from climate related disasters: tornado devastation in Tennessee, USA; flood victims in the UK, Australia, Brazil, drought continuing in Yemen; ice-melting in Greenland, Antarctica, the Arctic. We give thanks for those trying to combat climate change before it is too late, and we pray for foresight and action by those in positions of power who can effect such urgently needed change. May we too consider and adapt our own style of living to be less resource-depleting and re-learn how to live in harmony with nature and each other since you have provided the Earth and its munificence for all.

Come, Lord, come and take our fear away; replace it with your love.

For migrants and refugees experiencing continuing violence, rejection, abuse and even death as they seek – as you did in your incarnation a refuge from violence and the ability to live and provide for their families. We remember the migrant children penned up in Lesbos, Greece, on the Mexican/US borders, in so many in Central and South America, Turkey, Syria, Iraq and across Africa and Europe.

Come, Lord, come and take our fear away; replace it with your love.

Lord, forgive us for looking to the lowest part of our natures rather than looking to you, the author and giver of life.

Lead us from darkness to light.

Wars and rumours of wars, rape and torture, insecurity online and in databases storing so much of our personal details, convenience and complacency taking precedence over justice and equity. Politicians and other so-called leaders think lies are acceptable means of communication if said with enough conviction and repeated loudly and often enough. Just like the Nazi propaganda minister, Goebbels.

Lord, your kingdom is one of justice and joy. Forgive our gratuitous violence to each other in thought, word, deed and inaction.

Lead us from darkness to light.

We give thanks for the billions of people who buck the publicised trend and live a hidden life of love and service. In silence, we hold them in gratitude to your healing and empowering love and light.

Help us remember that whereas some sections of the media are skewed and biased or even untruthful, Your essence is truth and light.

Lord, as we look to You for inspiration on the way to go, lead us from darkness to light.

May we rejoice in you always, however challenging our life may be. For we know in the deepest part of our soul where we encounter you, that there is no darkness where you are if we walk by faith and not by sight. We rest on your promised faithful presence as you lead us from darkness to light. 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 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