World in Prayer

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, July 10, 2014

Lord, we love our sports, games, competition. Winners and losers, the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat, we love it all.

But Lord, we mix our metaphors, we mistake life for games, we use the language of war for the playing fields. Remind us, God, that the Middle East is not a playing field. With the horrific murders of 3 Israeli teenagers and 1 Palestinian youth, the score is not 3-1 for either side. Help us to see that everyone is losing, there is no gold medal for breaking the most hearts, tearing asunder the most families, dashing the most hopes. The true score of daily evil is nil-nil, nothing to celebrate.

Yet, Holy One, you have given us a heart for victory. We yearn for good to triumph over evil, for health to defeat sickness, for justice to overwhelm injustice, for peace to prevail.

In the tragic corners of our world or our daily lives, may we find our truest triumph in choosing your will and your way, even when such faith is to mock death itself: “O Death, where is thy victory?”

Holy God, perhaps we can learn from the world of sports. Your scriptures urge us to run our race with perseverance, to finish well what we start, to not allow ourselves to be overtaken, to claim the fruit of victory. Let us bring such youthful, competitive exuberance into our world of faith.

When we cheer on the excellence of our favorite teams and players, remind us that we are cheering the result of years of practice, discipline, sacrifice, and teamwork. Challenge us, God, to exercise the best in the world in our own lives lived fully for you. Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, April 24, 2014

O Lord, we doubt and we believe. Help us to hold both our doubt and our belief lightly so we may be astonished and overjoyed when we see you, wounded and whole, living in our world.

We doubt we will see peace: in Syria, in Ukraine, between Israelis and Palestinians, even sometimes within our own families. Yet you, O Lord, are the Prince of Peace. Help us to bring peace to our world.

We doubt we will see comfort: for the families of those who died in the Korean ferry disaster or for over 100 girls kidnapped from their school in Nigeria. Yet you, O Lord, are our comforter. Help us to bring comfort to our world.

We doubt we will see health: for those suffering from chronic illnesses, for those affected by malaria and other diseases, or for those who are malnourished. Yet you, O Lord, healed those who came to you. Help us to bring healing to our world.

Our Lord and our God: Help us to come to believe. May we be present when you appear among us and may we share the good news of your presence to the world, sharing your peace, comfort, and healing with everyone.

Amen.

World News This Week In Prayer – Thursday, February 13, 2014

Calm me, Lord

Calm me, Lord, as you calmed the storm;
Still me, Lord, keep me from harm,
Let all the tumult within me cease,
enfold me, Lord, in your peace.

Text: David Adam

What a maelstrom of events is present in the news this week.  Torrential unseasonal rain in Indonesia has affected the Pacific gulfstream, which in turn has affected the gulfstream over North America causing drought in California, the polar freeze over large sections of the rest of the continent. This in turn has disrupted the Atlantic gulfstream so Ireland and the United Kingdom have been battered by hurricane strength winds, and the wettest winter in over 250 years resulting in extensive floods. And the end is not in sight… And this is not just occurring in the northern hemisphere… You have given us charge to live in harmony with all of your creation and with each other… Lord, teach us how to live in this way, but first of all teach us daily how to live in harmony with You.

Hear our cry and teach us, God.

Lord, we pray for all working to ease the havoc and destruction caused by the weather.  We pray for wisdom in how we work together to prevent such catastrophes or at least for learning how to mitigate their effects.  The ribbon of life binds us all together wherever we are in the world, and our actions have reactions and our choices have consequences.  Open our eyes to the life force breathed into us by you at Creation, so we can live truly as members of one body.

Hear our cry and teach us, God.

We give thanks for the extended temporary ceasefire in Syria to rescue some people from Homs.  We ask for forgiveness for the actions and inactions that have prevented bringing peace to this horrendous conflict.  It brings to mind the horrors of Srebrenica in Bosnia, and the pattern is being repeated in Syria, Israel, the West Bank, Afghanistan, Iraq, Mexico, Zimbabwe, Sudan, and so many other countries.

Lord, have mercy, and bring peace to your suffering peoples…

We celebrate the good news and joy that is brought from the efforts of the athletes at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.  We recall all those who have been displaced or suffered in any way for the Olympic facilities to be made ready.  We give thanks that in the middle of such human mess, there are flashes of inspiration and truly generous, open-hearted support of each other by athletes of competing nations.

Lord, we praise you and give you thanks.

We give thanks too for the good news of communities, often themselves facing hardship, like the small church of Tron St. Mary’s, in Balornock, Glasgow, Scotland, who, faced with a large immigrant population and great deprivation, have sought and obtained funding to extend their work within the community, growing and sharing food, skills, and helping people settle and be welcomed as part of the community no matter their faith or country of origin.

Lord, bless them and all like them as they spread your light and love where they are.

As so many celebrate or feel pressured to celebrate St Valentine’s Day, we remember those who produce flowers for us in developing countries often in conditions which would not be allowed where we live.  We pray for those for whom there is no one to make them feel special, or those who have lost that special someone… Lord, help us to share with each other, whether as a couple or as single people, the deep abiding love which can only truly be found in You and which even in the best human relationship is but a faint reflection of Your love for each one of us.

And so Lord,

“My whole being desires you … Your constant love is better than life itself, and so I will praise you … I will give you thanks as long as I live … My soul will feast and be satisfied.. all night long I think of you … I cling to you…”

        -Selected from Psalm 63: 1 – 8

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – January 2, 2014

World in Prayer This Week – January 2, 2014

“And having been warned in dream not to return to Herod, they [the Wise Ones] left for their own country by another road.”  Matthew 2:12 (NRSV)

God of dreams and desires, in this sacred season you reach to the world in rhythms beyond the rational.  An angel comes to Mary, Elizabeth feels a child quicken within her, Joseph has a dream, and the Wise Ones follow a star.

We who worship at the altar of the linear and the rational easily dismiss these gentle beats of eternity and bombard the ancient stories with questions and analyses and doubts and thoughts.  We empty the stories of their mystery.  Caught in a desire to understand, we forget that you are known in ways beyond thinking.  You are heard as much in silence as in speech.  You are present in dreams and visions.

Draw us to quiet our hyperactive minds and rest in the quiet that opens a place for you deep within.  Draw us to Sabbath rest; releasing what we so desperately want to control, setting aside what we are driven to accomplish, stopping our busyness with things that are important but not more important than seeking you.  Remind us that we are human beings and not human doings.

We would sit with the ancient stories and mine their tender wisdom.  With Mary we would receive the message of the angels, all the while arguing with ourselves that such beings do not exist…  With Joseph we would receive our dreams as gifts from the place deep within where holy insight unfolds.  With the Wise Ones we would look for the light that shines in the darkness and find our way to You once again.

The world has already forgotten about Christmas–a distant memory of a time too busy and filled with too much.  In the stores Christmas is half price and the fireworks of the New Year have drowned out the sounds from the manger.

And the hungry are still hungry.  The homeless are still homeless.  The wars are still raging.  The planet still cries out in need.  The gap between the rich and the poor is an ever widening river.  All that was broken before Christmas is still broken.

  •                 In the Middle East violence boils over in Syria, Israel, Iraq and Yemen. The number of refugees increases daily.
  •                 In Africa war wracks the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan and Sud Sudan.  Hunger and disease run rampant.
  •                 In Asia, Afghanistan, Burma-Myanmar and Pakistan all struggle with unrest, political and religious power struggles.
  •                 The Philippines and Japan still struggle in the aftermath of disaster.
  •                 The United States still argues about whether or not it is right to care for the poor.

But still… the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.  This promise is renewed in us and for us and through us; the gift of the season is offered once again as a reminder that we are not alone, that our striving toward your dream for a world of shalom is not finally a pipe dream but a promise.

As we linger in the ancient stories for just a few more days, not quite ready to let go of the season, waiting for the gift of Epiphany which is your revealing once again, may we take courage for the work that is ours, rest for the journey that is ahead, sustenance that is found at the table where bread is broken and wine is freely poured.  And finding in the home that you make in the world through the Christ, may we, like the Wise Ones of old, find our way home by another way; the way that is your way, the way that is shared by all people of faith, the way that is your Shalom.

Amen.

 

World News This Week In Prayer – Thursday, December 19, 2013

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.
We are still waiting for you.
We are waiting for the Prince of Peace.
We are waiting for the Wisdom from on high.
We are waiting for the King of all nations.
O come and set the captives free.

Free those who are captive to violence.

  • The people of Syria, of South Sudan, of Ukraine.
  • The victims of domestic violence or abuse.
  • Those who see violence as a solution to their problems or those of the world.

Free those who are captive to poverty.

  • Those unable to find work, and those whose work cannot supply their needs.
  • The long-term unemployed in the United States who may be affected by the expiration of their unemployment benefits.
  • Those who work in sweatshops and mines.
  • The children of New Zealand, over ¼ of whom live in poverty, and children throughout the world who live in poverty.

Free those who are captive to fear and hatred.

  • Those nations divided by histories of rivalry and conflict:
    • Iran and Israel
    • India and Pakistan
  • The Roma of Europe.
  • Those who fear others based on race or ethnicity.

Free those who are captive to sorrow.

  • Those who grieve the loss of a loved one.
  • Those who are alone.
  • Those who suffer from depression.
  • Those for whom this time of celebration is a time of sadness.

May you, O Lord, turn all our sorrow into joy. May our souls rejoice at your appearing. May we magnify you as we sing. And may all the world be glad at the light of your presence.

Come, Lord Jesus. Be our light in the darkness. And may we come before your presence with a song. For you are our light and our salvation, and to you we lift our voices in prayer and thanksgiving, now and always.  Amen.