Saudi Arabia

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, January 10, 2019

And a voice came from above, “You are my beloved child; I love you.” – Luke 3:22

Baptized in water, sealed by the Spirit, marked with the sign of Christ our king:
Born of the Spirit, we are God’s children; joyfully now God’s praise we sing.
Michael Saward, tune: BUNESSAN

Holy One, you who love us beyond measure, you who regard each of us as your own beloved child, we come to you thirsty for the Good News; thirsty for forgiveness, thirsty for justice, thirsty for healing for this earth and all its peoples. Open our eyes, minds, and hearts to the realities of the world in which we live, that we might be filled with your compassion for all those who are in need or in pain, those who are lonely or in danger, those who are without a voice, and those for whom daily living is a trial beyond belief.
Hear us, Gracious God; your mercy is great.

We pray for all those for whom home has become a dangerous place: for the refugees fleeing to the United States from Central America; for Rahaf Al-Qunun, a young Saudi woman who has been granted refugee status by the United Nations and is being welcomed by Australia; for people from South Sudan, Yemen, and Syria who have been forced to flee home for their very lives. May they find a home in your compassionate love, and may we do our best to provide that love in our own lives and neighborhoods.
Hear us, Loving God; your mercy is great.

We pray for all those for whom justice has become a fleeting dream: for the people of the DR Congo, where the presidential election is still in dispute; for Nazanin Zafhari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian citizen who has been held in an Iranian prison for 1000 days and is being denied medical care; for the countless numbers at the southern border of the United States who long to have their requests for asylum heard; for those caught up in the United States criminal justice system for minor crimes and misdemeanors. Grant us courage to speak up and speak out when we see such injustices; grant us the awareness to see these people as our sisters and brothers, your own beloved children.
Hear us, Just God; your mercy is great.

We pray for those for whom freedom of speech is at risk, especially for the people of Venezuela and Guatemala. When they need someone to speak for them, let us not turn away but speak out in ways that are both daring and healing, that the leaders may know that their citizens have sisters and brothers in other places who care deeply.
Hear us, Courageous God; your mercy is great.

We pray, with thanksgiving, for the ways in which the schools of Capetown, South Africa, are making welcoming accommodations for transgender students, letting them know that they are of value, telling them with actions that they are God’s beloved children. Open our hearts to reach out to those in our own countries, in our own neighborhoods, in our own families, who need our hospitality and our acceptance, even as we need yours.
Hear us, Welcoming God; your mercy is great.

All of this we pray in the name of the One who Loves, the One who Comes, the One who calls us each sister or brother. Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer- Thursday, December 20, 2018

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18-19, Isaiah 61:1,2

Oh Lord,

We pray for those who are silenced because of oppression, whose words no one hears. You brought your Christ light to the world. Help us to remember, to know and live in this great love. Help us to spread the Good News.

You hear the sobbing and quaking fear of a child. You see the tears and hear the weeping of parents as families are torn apart. You hear the cries of children isolated for days, weeks, and months from their families. We call, we pray for the release of the over 140 children still separated from their families because of U.S. policy. They are not forgotten. How many more hunger at borders, camps and detention centers around the world? Help us to practice mercy with others, the mercy you have given us.

We pray for those who are speaking for release of the imprisoned, the captive and those suppressed. Help us to find our way in doing the same, in small acts of kindness and generous hospitality.

Help us in our silences when we can’t find the words and when we do speak, when we try to polish the words to get them just right and when we stumble and stutter and struggle to speak to you. Open our hearts that we may love with kind words, true words, thoughtful words and necessary words.

Help us to hold deeply in our hearts the truth that behind the published word there are the journalists who are working in harm’s way, taking risks as they interview those being silenced, photographing atrocities and bringing to our awareness unutterably evil deeds.

We pray for those who courageously investigate and report the news, as a tally released this week reports that 348 journalists are currently imprisoned and detained. Sixty are held hostage and eighty were killed in 2018, the highest number ever. We pray for those imprisoned and censored in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt.

Comfort families in their distress. Console journalist colleagues and sustain the news bureaus as they continue to shoulder their resolve in telling the stories and reporting facts in all corners of the world, rushing again and again to each new crisis and staying as conflicts continue over decades. Help us to protect and defend these liberties.

Help us to hear one another’s words; to listen freshly, with curiosity, and to absorb what friends, family and strangers have to say. Calm our ever-present ability to deny, interrupt and discount. Restore our sight to see Christ in the other.

We pray to grow in tolerance and kindness.

All this we ask in your name, in this season of Advent as the world swirls around us..

May your Peace and your Good News be received on this earth.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, November 29, 2018

Holy One,

When what we have is yours and what we receive is a gift from you, we offer up our words of prayer in the knowledge that you are the Word from whom all our prayers flow. We pray with grief for the things that have broken your heart; we pray with joy for the things that have made you dance.

We pray with awareness that we cannot fix the world, but, instead, we can learn to see and taste and touch and know this world as your Creation. In this time and space, we try to take our next step of faith and in so doing, we hope to discover you.

We pray for that which fills us with grief: the devastation from wildfires in California (USA); the violence inflicted on asylum-seekers at the Mexico-United States border; the ongoing conflicts in Yemen; the cruel treatment of the Rohyinga in Myanmar; all who care for someone who struggles with addiction and mental illness; all who wait and watch and weep at the bedsides of loved ones this week.

We pray for that which fills us with fear: the unfolding havoc of climate change around the world; the flaring tensions between Ukraine and Russia; the continued fallout from the murder of Saudi journalist Khashoggi; the precariousness of a Brexit deal; the rise of raging, hate-filled political rhetoric in countries near and far from us.

We pray for that which gives us strength: the compassion of strangers who care for migrants in the Mediterranean and in Central America; the rise of women leaders in Ethiopia; the energy of students who fight gun violence in the United States; those who believe we belong to each other; those who live as if we belong to you.

Lord, teach us how to love what you love. Show us how to nurture what you nurture. Reveal to us how to speak your Word, today and in the days to come.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, September 28, 2017

Ex 31:16 “The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant.”(NIV)

Creator God, you give us every good and perfect gift. We celebrate the equinox so easily, the turning of the world and change of seasons, the seedtime and the harvest; our unique place in the solar system giving us truths that would not be easily discovered on other planets. We enjoy so much of this beauty – forgive us that we ignore your many other gifts.

You gave us the Sabbath to observe as a day of rest and to celebrate it for future generations, a good and perfect gift that we don’t see as such. The burden we place on future generations is to work, continuously, with no space for the holy. We think “the work ethic” means we must work all 168 hours of a week; we think we must take our e-devices everywhere, even on holiday, even in the bath, for fear that we are weighed in the balance and found wanting by our employers. When we are self-employed it becomes even worse, unable to take time for ourselves and our family just in case we miss out on a contract, the perfect job. Lord, who is my neighbour; when will we love ourselves that we can love our neighbour? Will it be when we take a Sabbath’s rest to keep it holy and learn to love ourselves?

And then, we see the news of the war of words between nations, especially between the US and North Korea, and cry “give it a rest”. When we hear that, against Israeli canvassing, Interpol has voted to admit the State of Palestine to membership, along with the Solomon Islands – Lord, who is my neighbour; when will we love ourselves that we can love our neighbour? Will it be when we take a Sabbath’s rest and regain a more objective perspective?

Even within nations there is no rest: The Iraqis refusing to even discuss Monday’s referendum about Kurdish independence; the Spanish arresting all those officials who would run the coming referendum, disrupting any idea of Catalan independence. Lord, who is my neighbour; when will we love ourselves that we can love our neighbor? Will it be when we celebrate our diversity as your people on earth?

We see the recurring devastation of Caribbean islands by storms, and the country of Mexico by earthquakes, and know there can be no rest until water, food and shelter are provided and the lost are found. As people flee the eruptions of Mount Agung on Bali, and Monaro on Vanuatu, Lord, who is my neighbour; when will we love ourselves that we can love our neighbour? Will it be when we learn to share the labour and give each other respite care?

We fail to recognise that freedom of speech means other ethnicities within our own country can use it. When we see the ethnic cleansing and displacement of such as the Rohingya, then, Lord, who is my neighbour; when will we love ourselves that we can love our neighbour? Will it be when we recognise the rights of other ethnicities?

When the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts announces 6 new member countries – Syria, Aruba, Azerbaijan and the State of Palestine as full members and Albania and Niger as associate members – and recognizes Arabic as another official language – then we celebrate, these are our neighbours. We see women in Saudi Arabia are finally allowed to drive, then we celebrate; when all refugees are finally resettled from Australia’s Manus Island Processing Center in Papua, New Guinea, then we can know these are our neighbours; when the great green wall across sub-Saharan Africa finally brings drought relief to the countries around Lake Chad, then all these are our neighbours and for future generations we can celebrate.

“… to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant … “ These are not your hopeful thoughts or wishful comments, Lord, these are your commands – that we learn to live together in covenant with you and our neighbour. May it be so.

World News in Prayer for Thursday, 7 September 2017

Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart. -Ps.119:34

The commandments…are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.” -Romans 13:9-10

Abba, Father of each one of us wherever we are in this blue planet you created for us even as you created us, listen to the cries of our hearts. As I struggle with difficulties and issues in my life outside my control, they are but pale echoes of what others are experiencing. But for each of us, at times the darkness threatens to overwhelm us.

God of love and life, hear our cries, and let a glimmer of your light and love offer hope and clarity about the path to take.

I feel such a deep, burning anger at the ecological disasters yet again affecting so many of the poorest communities in the Caribbean, India, Sri Lanka, the USA; at the suffering of so many without access to medicine, clean water, and food in Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Venezuela, Somalia, Syria, and so many other countries. I am ashamed and appalled at the indifference and inaction of media and politicians. What can I, as one person on a limited income, do to tackle this other than pray, sign petitions to be presented to our seemingly-indifferent governments, make phone calls to my elected officials, send emails, write letters which never seem to get answered?

Jesus, you challenged the authorities by pointing to the difference between God’s laws and those of humankind.

God of love and life, hear our cries, and let a glimmer of your light and love offer hope and clarity about the path to take.

At night, my sleep is broken as I hold up to You the prisoners of conscience disappeared without trace in numerous countries; the murder of so many such as Lauri Gankesh, an Indian female journalist and activist who spoke out against extremist Hindu violence; women and girls routinely sexually harassed and raped throughout the world and then being accused by males in positions of influence or power as ‘inviting it’; corruption in Brazil, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E.- the list seems endless…

Jesus, you contravened the religious ‘correctness’ of man’s religious orthodoxy, preferring always to follow God’s revealed will and laws.

God of love and life, hear our cries, and let a glimmer of your light and love offer us hope and the courage to follow your example.

So many hearts are breaking in the United States at the suspension of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), the act put into place during the previous administration in 2012 to permit undocumented young people, brought to America by their parents, to remain in the country at their jobs or in school or with their families. Uncertainty grips Latino communities as the threat of deportation looms large, loving God, as families fear being torn apart, in the name of national security and immigration reform.

Jesus, you welcomed everyone, including all people into the embrace of your loving care, reflecting the all-encompassing and inclusive love of God.

God of love and life, hear our cries, and let a glimmer of your light and love offer us hope and the courage to speak up for justice.

Why do we, your followers, call you The Servant King but try to emulate, admire, and promote the values of self-obsessed ‘successful leaders’? Lord, forgive us and have mercy on our twisted understanding. So often we proclaim and teach human traditions instead of yours. We give thanks for all who dare to follow You in love and service, abandoning themselves to your will.

Lead us from death to life, from fear to love, from despair to hope, trusting in You. God of love and life, hear our cries, and let a glimmer of your light and love offer us hope and the courage to love our neighbor, whoever and wherever they are, as You love us. Amen

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, June 22, 2017

Lord,

I can see the cherries ripening on the tree outside. The raspberries redden almost quicker than I can pick, but there are those for whom there will be no harvest. As sparrows happily investigate the fruit, they remind me, everyone is of more value than sparrows. Deep down we really know this, however much we demand to know where You are. So, we boldly pray for our world and all the events and circumstances which in such a brash way demand top billing in the news.

We pray for the people of Texas, Louisiana and all along the Ohio River Valley, U.S.A. and all of those who suffer from the effects of flash flooding and tornadoes from tropical storm Cindy.

We pray for the people of northern Britain where torrential thunderstorms follow summer heat.

We pray for the people of Portugal; the fire fighters, those killed, injured and those who care; as wildfire burns across their mountains.

We pray for the people of the Central African Republic where fighting continues a day after a ceasefire came into force.

We pray for the people of South Sudan who the world seems to have abandoned.

We pray for the people of Eastern Africa as drought deepens and now, as in Southern Africa crops are being threatened by the Fall Armyworms.

We pray for the people of the Middle East, today, thinking of Saudi Arabia with the announced change of crown prince, of Yemen with the continuing conflict, famine and now cholera, and of Qatar being blockaded and how all these events work together.

As Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan we pray for our Muslim neighbors; those caught in the car attack near the Finsbury Park mosque, London, U.K.; the sadness of Syria; the effect of a Kurdish independence vote on Iraq and for Iran and Turkey.

We pray for the Philippines as the Government continues its battles against ISIS and communist rebels. In doing so we cannot fail to think of the mounting pressures in the Korean peninsula; of the many conflicting claims around the South China Sea and of the asylum seekers held by the Australian government on Manus Island and Nauru.

We pray for the people of Venezuela as medical crisis and food shortages grip and for the people of Argentina where one in eight children suffers in poverty and food insecurity.

Lord, all this is happening as I sit here complaining that it’s too hot, on the hottest day in June for 40 years in Britain. Remind me that it’s not really that hot and there are many who would love it to be as cool as this! In all these situations and many more You are here asking what we are doing for we are worth more than sparrows. We give thanks that You hear our prayers and make them worthwhile.

Amen.

World News in Prayer – April 20, 2017

“According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
1 Peter 1.3

Lord, giver of life, let us live our lives to the full, with humility, care and compassion and in your Son’s image. Let us forgive where forgiveness is sought. Let us strive to ease the burdens of others and in so doing lighten our own load. We ask of you in your infinite wisdom, to cherish us all in this world you created and protect those who cannot protect themselves. During this Easter season let us pray, as Jesus taught us, for our brothers and sisters around the world and remember the very power of that prayer.

We thank you Lord for the safe recovery of 6,000 migrants rescued from the Mediterranean Sea last weekend and the continued efforts of those involved. Let our thoughts and prayers turn to all refugees whose lives are lived in the desperation of poverty, in the fear of illness and treatment, in the struggles for freedom and justice, in the weariness of war, and in the bleakness of despair. We imagine you, Holy God, seeing the precious lives of your loved ones in each nation, each with their own struggle and pray that if they, and we are your children, as was our risen Christ Jesus, that you help us to see clearly who and what we are to one another.

We pray for all those countries involved in continuing conflicts; for the violence in South Sudan where tens of thousands have been killed and thousands more are fleeing the border from targeted ethnic killings perpetrated by mostly government forces; for the rising tensions over North Korea where the United States is desperately seeking to solve and ease relations after a failed missile test on Sunday by the totalitarian regime, and for the ongoing conflict in Syria. As we hear that the death toll from a bomb attack on a crowded bus convey near Aleppo, Syria has reached at least 126, to include 68 children, we pray for those innocent souls caught up between the warring sides. Let us think of all countries’ service personnel in active duty around the world and ask that you will keep them safe until they return home to their families and those they love.

In Sri Lanka, we pray for those dead and missing from a landfill collapse which occurred as people celebrated their New Year and for the crew of a cargo ship that went down in heavy seas off the Black Sea coast near the Crimea. We pray for the five killed in a light aircraft crash near Lisbon, Portugal and for the 12 Saudi solders who died in a helicopter crash in Yemen. In the Philippines, we pray for the 24 people killed when a bus plunged into a deep ravine and for the three men fatally shot and another wounded in a suspected race attack in Fresno, California, US. Lord, have mercy on those who mourn, who feel numb and crushed, are filled with the pain of grief and whose strength has given up. Lord, in your steadfast love give us peace and courage and take away our fear through the dying and rising of Jesus your Son.

Father, may we feel and realize your presence in the coming week, and in the magnificent strength it commands, let us think of the stone of Christ’s tomb and as it was, so roll away the stones of illness, despair, worry and fear and pour the light and joy of his resurrection into our lives. Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, September 29, 2016

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him; do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices. Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath. Do not fret – it leads only to evil. Psalm 37:5, 7-8, NRSV

We have seen this week yet again how the “law becomes slack and justice never prevails. The wicked surround the righteous – therefore judgement comes forth perverted” (Habakkuk 1:4). Despite another scathing ruling by a human rights tribunal, the Canadian government is failing to rectify funding disparities for the delivery of First Nation on-reserve child welfare services. High suicide rates and violence against women are common in First Nations and Inuit communities like those in Alaska, USA. Similar injustices appear among vulnerable communities in India, the Asian sub-continent, Africa, the Middle East and South America. Lord, have mercy. Change the hearts of the perpetrators of these injustices, and bring them to repentance. Open our eyes and hearts to cruelty so that we might fight for justice and peace.

We hear so much of the continuing disputes in politics and election processes throughout the world. We pray that truth may triumph over the slick, media-savvy noise of those with political leverage. We pray for discernment for all those who are about to exercise their hard-won right to vote. May the ears of the world be open to the message of those struggling for equity and calling for justice. Lord, hear the voiceless. May your way of truth and justice and life be available to all.

We give thanks for people like:

Ten-year-old Zianna Oliphant, who rebuked authorities over police shootings in Charlotte, USA;
Rami Adham, a Finnish-Syrian father-of-six, who takes toys, medicine, and food to the besieged in Syria and builds schools in refugee camps;
Dr Ashwaq Muharram, who has used her own resources to provide food and medical aid to starving residents of Hudaydah, Yemen after international aid organisations withdrew from Yemen in 2015 and Saudi Arabia’s blockade tightens;
Josh Coombes, a hairdresser in London, England, who has offered free services to the homeless for the past year and has inspired others to follow his example including barber Jamie Richards of Aberdare, Wales;
Residents of Mureck, Austria, who set up a community garden project so locals, refugees, and migrants can get to know each other by planting roots together.

O God, you are our Creator, our Redeemer, our Saviour, and our Mother. Send your Spirit daily to empower us and fill us with grace. Whatever we may be facing, however overwhelmed we are, however angry and bitter over what we see as greed, injustice, hatred, fear, cruelty, and indifference, help us to commit our way to you, trust you, wait patiently for you, and know that, as we have seen repeatedly throughout history, you DO act, but in your own way and time. Lead us in YOUR way of peace, justice and love. Amen.

_______________

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World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, September 15

O how wondrous
is the foreknowledge of the divine heart
that knew every creature in advance.
For when God looked upon the human face
that he had formed,
he glimpsed all his works,
in that same human form, all summed up.
O how wondrous is the inspiration
that has thus animated the human being.

Hildegard of Bingen, “O quam mirabilis”

Creator God, your love for us is apparent in the wonder and complexity with which we are made. We are created with endless diversity, each face distinct, each personality unique, and yet we all bear your divine image. The inspiration with which you breathed us into life is displayed in so many ways:

In the perseverance and strength of athletes during the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;
In the persistence of rescue crews in Bukoba, Tanzania, who searched for survivors of an earthquake, and crews who worked in Taiwan and China to evacuate families and prepare for the arrival of Super Typhoon Meranti;
In the devotion of over 1.8 million Muslims who traveled to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for the Hajj pilgrimage;
In the compassion and courage of first responders in O Porrino, Spain, who worked to rescue victims of a deadly train crash, and in Tongi, Bangladesh, who battled a fire caused by a deadly factory explosion;
In the emerging hope for peace in Colombia, where FARC rebels have released a group of child soldiers and have promised to discontinue recruitment of children.

We know, Lord, that you rejoice with us when we embody the love and care for which you created us. And yet so often we fall short, seeing the gift of diversity as a threat and forgetting the divine image that we all possess. Fear, suffering, and broken relationships disfigure your divine image and damage your creation in so many ways:

In violent hate crimes perpetrated against Muslim mothers in New York, US and Bletchley, UK;
In a successful nuclear test in North Korea, which deepens tension among nations and adds to the number of nuclear-capable countries, including Russia, the US, France, China, the UK, Pakistan, India, and Israel;
In acts of terrorism designed to spread fear and perpetuate extremism in Minto, Australia; Shikarpur, Pakistan; and around the globe.

Forgive us for abandoning our primary identity as your beloved children. Bring hope and healing to our broken world. Give us strength and inspiration to look into the faces of our neighbors and see what you see: A glimpse of all your works, a glimpse of you.

Amen.

Note: Many Christians celebrate the feast of St Hildegard of Bingen on 17 September. Hildegard was a Benedictine nun and Christian mystic, writer, and composer in 10^th century Germany.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, February 11, 2016

Our Father in heaven, lead us not into temptation.
Help us to recognize the temptations that surround us,
the subtle snares that, on their face, seem good:

The temptation to use violence and force to achieve peace and gentleness;
The temptation to see our perspective as truth and others as heresy;
The temptation to believe the best of ourselves and the worst of others.

We pray that, as we look at the world around us, we may recognize those temptations and resist their allure, so that we might serve the true Prince of Peace who is the source of Truth and Life.

We pray for peace in Syria and for comfort and safety for all those who have been displaced.

We pray for Mexico where a prison riot has left 52 dead.

We pray for Oregon in the United States as a militant group has surrendered after occupying a wildlife refuge for 41 days.

We pray for Saudi Arabia where a man shot and killed six employees in an education department office in the community of Ad Dair.

We pray for Nigeria where at least 56 people have been killed in a double suicide bombing at a camp sheltering people displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency.

We pray for Taiwan as relief efforts in response to a 6.4-magnitude earthquake get under way.

We pray for Flint, Michigan (US), Palestine, and for all places in the world where there is not a safe supply of life-sustaining water.

Our Father in heaven, lead us not into temptation, but beside streams of water that revive our soul, and guide us along right pathways for your Name’s sake. All this we ask through your son, Jesus Christ.

Amen.