Syria

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, January 28, 2021

God of all times and places,
as we look out into your world
we see so many different things:
sun
snow
rain
chaos
silence
hope
fear
peace
violence
justice
faith
oppression
…

The list goes on,
and on,
and on.

As I gaze out my window today,
I am reminded that what I see
what I experience,
what I hear,
what I feel,
are all dependent on where I am, and who I am.

And, in so many ways
what I see outside my window
depends on whose I am as well.

As your children we strive to experience the world through your eyes and ears,
loving our neighbors
living in harmony with the earth
hearing your voice of justice and hope.

This week we have
remembered the Holocaust
continued to struggle through a global pandemic
watched as Ghana remembers the life of their longest-serving leader, Jerry John Rawlings
witnessed protests by farmers in India
felt the anxiety of rising fire danger in Australia
sensed the growing strain as COVID cases continue to rise in the United Kingdom, Peru, and many other countries
we have been dismayed that over 20,000 people have been forced to flee from their camps in Syria due to flooding
and we have been astounded by feats of athleticism and grace.

And that is just a part of the news which has buffeted us, Holy One.
We have friends and family who are suffering physically, mentally, and emotionally.
We have new opportunities in life, new jobs, new relationships, homes.
We celebrate with new families and grieve with parents.
We enjoy fellowship and meals.
We ache because there is no one with whom to share our time.

Both near and far our lives are filled with sorrow and hope, joy and pain, grief and celebration.

But most of all, Abundant God, we long to be surrounded and uplifted by your presence in all things.

For a moment we pause, we breathe, we wait, we rest in you.

Then, we return to the work of co-creating a world
where you are what we see, what we hear, and what we feel.
Because, O God, you love us, and you call us your own.
Continue to guide, teach, and transform us, we pray.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, 21 January 2021

This opening Litany of Praise is from the Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity 2021 taken from the ecumenical service published by CTBI prepared by the The Monastic Community of Grandchamp. Switzerland.

Congregation: You who call us to be praise in the midst of the earth: glory to you!
Reader 1: We sing your praise in the midst of the world and among all peoples,
Reader 2: We sing your praise in the midst of creation and among all creatures.
Congregation: You who call us to be praise in the midst of the earth: glory to you!
Reader 1: We sing your praise among suffering and tears,
Reader 2: We sing your praise among promises and achievements.
Congregation: You who call us to be praise in the midst of the earth: glory to you!
Reader 1: We sing your praise in the places of conflict and misunderstanding;
Reader 2: We sing your praise in the places of encounter and reconciliation.
Congregation: You who call us to be praise in the midst of the earth: glory to you!
Reader 1: We sing your praise in the midst of rifts and divisions,
Reader 2: We sing your praise in the midst of life and death, the birth of a new heaven and a new earth.
Congregation: You who call us to be praise in the midst of the earth: glory to you!

Prayers for the World in Prayer community

Lord, do you really want us to do that? You mean sing your praise?! Really Lord, sometimes I don’t understand you. You know (don’t you?) that I try to do what Jesus said and prayed about. Especially his prayer that his followers would be one! And, anyway, what I really want to talk to you about is –
Why has Israel attacked the Gaza strip again?
Why has Indonesia seen so many natural disasters in one week, earthquake and flooding on 2 separate islands, as well as the loss of an aircraft?
And what about Syria – rain floods the many refugee camps, displaced people desperately search for food, and there may be ISIS “sleeper cells” waiting to take advantage of these disasters?

Lord, rend the heavens and answer.

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)

Why is unrest over youth unemployment and Covid-19 restrictions in Tunisia suddenly escalating?
Why are there the Covid-19 surges in the United Kingdom and Sri Lanka as well as the tennis players ill or in quarantine in Australia to the detriment of Australians stranded abroad?
As we read that since the New Year daily Covid-19 deaths around the world, at least the minority of countries which announce them, has been running at 10,000+, what about the elite athletes still training for Olympics which might yet have to be cancelled?

Lord, rend the heavens and answer.

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.

Well, then, Lord, where is the international will to deal with the long-lasting situations in Yemen and Somalia?
What about the spill of untreated sewage in Puget Sound, USA affecting the Suquamish shellfish programme, following in the unusual winds causing power outages? What about the wildfires in Chile, Nepal and New Zealand? What about the disastrous ground blizzard in Japan and storms across Great Britain and North West Europe?
It’s the 20^th January as I write, and by law the inauguration of the incoming President of the USA: renew the vision of caring, equality for all, love for each other with malice to none and care for all.
As the joint United Nations / African Union peace-keeping mission has ended in Sudan, where is there hope?

You give generously to all, Lord. Rend the heavens and answer.

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Okay, Lord, there is good news – of the roll out of vaccines, of rescues from avalanches and landslides, of trapped miners found in China, of foodbanks still having food to operate and people willing to do it, that Egypt and Qatar have ‘agreed to resume diplomatic relations’ and much more that the media don’t bother to report.

I will attempt to sing your praises, forever more. May it be so. Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, January 14th, 2021

Dear God,

Today we long to be held. We long to be held, not by the hateful actions we see on our televisions. Not by a virus that continually kills thousands upon thousands. Not by our divisions and the things which cause us to break apart. We long to be held by your unbreakable, unshakeable, and infinite love. We long to be covered by you – that we can take a breath and step away from the chaos happening in our world. And yet we know that we too must do the work to make our community and world a place filled with your love and your justice.

Remind us, Lord, that this is your world, and that no matter what happens here to any of us, we always remain yours and belong fully and completely to you. We ask that you help us to embody you as we find a way to spread your justice in this world and in all of us who remain so broken.

God, although we long to forget the events of this week happening in our world, we still choose to lift up all of the feelings we feel in our bodies to you: our sadness, our anger, our helplessness, our confusion, our disgust, our desire to change ourselves and those around us, our longing to move on, our wish for hope. All of these feelings, and many others, we lift up to you and we ask that you take them as we also continue to work through them ourselves. We pray that we, and those around us, may have understanding as we all work through our feelings differently. We ask that you help us to find a way to sit with our emotions while also sitting with you.

We realize God that although we want to separate ourselves from the actions of others, we know we are part of it all too. We know this, O God, and so we ask that you forgive us and guide us to check ourselves for the hatred, the racism, the bigotry, and the lack of love that we show in the small and big ways that we don’t realize, or that we choose to ignore. Guide us Lord and deepen our hearts that we might realize that no matter how good we think we are, we need to make sure that we are embodying your love in every action and in every word we say.

God, as we mourn the events of this past week where hatred was seen at the United States capitol building, we also recognize all the suffering in our community, country, and world. We pray for Uganda, where the internet is blocked and security has been stepped up as counting gets under way after polls closed in a hotly contested election that has been marked by violence in which dozens have been killed. We pray for The Netherlands, where the Dutch coalition government is in danger of collapse over a scandal over child benefits lasting 8 years

We ask for your presence as the world experiences our single Covid-19 highest death toll – over 13,000 in one day (over 4,000 people in the U.S. alone). We pray for the places where the number of positive test results continues to climb all around the world, as lockdowns continue to grow longer. We pray for knowledge and support as a variant of the virus with much higher transmission rates has now been detected in 45 countries.

We pray for comfort in Indonesia, where all contact has been lost with a passenger jet that carried 50 people.

As war and violence continue across our world, we pray for peace and pray for the loved ones of the dozens killed in Syria by Israeli airstrikes apparently targeting positions and arms depots of Iran-backed forces located there.

We pray for comfort as we continue to experience losses of all kinds this season – the lives of so many, broken relationships, jobs and sources of income, as well as the anniversaries of so many losses which we remember and continue to mourn.

God, there is so much. So many things are happening in our world that we cannot wrap our minds around, and so we ask that you may help us. That you may hold us as we cannot hold ourselves. That we may find you in all of the little places, in all of the things we have to do in any given week – we ask that you walk with us and that we may find little pieces of comfort and joy throughout our week. Even when we are not strong and have so little to give – we know that you have so much to give. We ask that you may be the comforting presence to each of those in our community – that your unshakeable and infinite love will carry us through and hold us today and always.

In your name we pray.
Amen.

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 – Thursday, December 31, 2020

As I come to write this I am frazzled, angry and baffled at the illogical, selfish behavior of some close to me who with their medical expertise and knowledge should know better and take precautions in the face of the surging pandemic. They are not alone – sadly. Lockdowns, illness, suffering, death, separation, and lack of contact and physical touch are wearing people down mentally, physically, and spiritually.

Holy One, let us hear afresh your words of life: “I AM FOR YOU.”

Lies, partial truths, fudging the issues at best are all swirling around in briefings, media outlets of all kinds, and thoughtlessly spread without a moment’s pause for reflection and discernment. The resultant increase in confusion, fear, distrust, and sometimes total frustration leading to ignoring of basic safety measures, disturb and devalue the essence of Christmas.

Light has come into the darkness and confusion. Love is born. The infant baby is not merely cute but the embodiment of eternal truth, justice, and joy for then, for now, for all time and all creation including each person and all that is created.

Holy One, let us hear afresh your words of life: “I AM FOR YOU.”

As another year dawns, may we take a moment

to recognize where the light appeared in our life this year (because it did);
to recognize who was the light and for you (for there was more than one person);
to acknowledge how you were the light for someone else in need (because you were)
to recognize where and how you experienced love this year (because you did);
to recognize who showed you the love (for there was more than one person);
to acknowledge how you expressed love to someone who felt unloved (because you did).

Holy One, let us live each day your words of life: “I AM FOR YOU.”

This year has been a maelstrom and living on a knife-edge with threats to all areas of life and society as we knew it, regardless of the country we live in, has shaken us to the core. The separation and loss of security in so many areas all at once has removed a lot of what we foolishly thought to be important or even essential, like status, material goods, and illusory social media popularity. We rejoice in the rediscovery of what we so often took for granted like love, family friends, a home, health, enough to eat and drink and be able to pay our bills, and the healing power of nature in all its forms has been a revelation for so many.

Jesus, Word of God, by you all things were made and love displayed say: “I AM FOR YOU.”

Spirit of God, rescue us from despair and give us hope, trusting in your promise of making all things new. And start with me, with us, with our communities, our leaders whether religious, political, business, fiscal, social, educational or health.

We look forward to the possibilities of protection now 3 vaccines are approved for use to combat the pandemic in different countries. We pray for a fair distribution so that all nations, regardless of their economic wealth, can help protect their people. We pray for patience so that we can all battle through this prolonged crisis knowing that we are all in it together or else we will all suffer even more horrors than 2020 has brought. the way the virus is mutating similarly in different continents simultaneously underlines that we are all one body.

Holy One, let us hear afresh your words of new life options: “I AM FOR YOU.”

The continuing saga of disasters flow endlessly: the earthquake in Croatia, mudslides in Norway and Japan devastating communities; floods, gales and snow in the UK, disappearances in Turkey, Belarus, Russia, droughts, starvation, oppression in Yemen, Syria, Kurdistan, Afghanistan, Egypt, Libya and so many parts of your world – our hearts ache with all those suffering. Be close to those in fear today, let them know they are not alone as you are with them. When it is too much to bear, let them hear you whisper, “Peace be still. I am with you closer than your next breath.” Give them the courage to keep on going on, trusting in your ever faithful love and mercy.

Strengthen all who work for peace where they are – often at the risk of their own lives.

You are the way. Help us to walk You.
You are Truth. Help us speak You.
You are Life. Help us breath you.
You are Love. Enfold and infill us to share you.
Each day. Each moment. Today and whatever this coming year brings.
We are Yours and you still say: “I AM FOR YOU.”

World News This Week in Prayer – Thurs., October 29, 2020

We meet you in prayer this day, asking for hope and guidance during these times of great uncertainty.

We lift our hearts in prayer for all those protesting police brutality:

In Philadelphia, PA, U.S., where Walter Wallace, Jr., a black man experiencing a mental health crisis, was shot and killed by police.
In Nigeria amid the #EndSARS weeks-long protests, where dozens of unarmed demonstrators were killed this week at two different demonstrations.

We ask for Your peace, in place of our violence.

Less than a week before Election Day in the United States, many of us are nervously praying for a just election and for all who are able to make their voice heard at the polls.

We ask for Your calm, in place of our anxiety.

We pray for the world during this global pandemic as countries contemplate fresh lockdowns amid the surge of new Covid-19 deaths. Many of us feel completely discouraged.

We pray particularly for France, where there’s a record number of new cases.
And especially for refugee camps in Syria, where the cases have risen tenfold.

We ask for Your hope, in place of our despair.

We continue prayers for Syria, where violence is steadily escalating, and, this week, Russian airstrikes have killed more than 50, and injured many others.

We ask for Your love, in place of our hatred.

O God of all people, grant us open eyes, minds, and hearts: for all that we can learn during this uncertain time, for new understanding, for abundant generosity, and for more love, that we may learn to truly be Your beloved community.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, April 30, 2020

Dear Lord,

Sometimes we feel so alone and unprepared and exhausted.

Sometimes we feel forgotten and stepped upon.

Lord, remind us to breathe,
to look outward
and
to look inward.

Lord, remind us that in praying we are doing your will.

Help us to examine ourselves and to prepare for each day, knowing you are leading us, speaking to us and TOUCHING us with great love.

We are steeped in news, stories that make us weep and grow deeply sad, reminding us of so many vulnerabilities and so much human loss. Help us to set down our fears and burdens, to find sleep, to have healing dreams that connect us powerfully to you and all of your creation.

May we know what it means when our hearts are inscribed by the Holy Spirit. Guide us. Awaken us. Refresh us. Comfort us. May we come face to face with the unbidden stranger and understand this great wondrous mysterious love.

For those who work in fire and rescue, emergency rooms and intensive care units with the ventilators and monitors, the beeping and lights, before them a feverish human completely dependent on their ministrations, God we ask for your compassion. Sustain those who give of the mind, body and spirit to care, to heal and restore. We grieve as we hear of more deaths and even suicides as the stress and risk of being on the front line accumulates. Shelter these intelligent, deeply caring souls in your eternal time. We grieve with families, the newly diagnosed, those passed, and those struggling to heal and find a new normal. So many directions to look. God have mercy. We hold the dead in a moment of silence…

For the firefighters in the Ukraine, battling forest fires around Chernobyl. where radioactive ash and smoke is ascending and spreading beyond borders. Lord have mercy on us. Forgive us for these seemingly unending man-made calamities.

For those who donate their money and talents, volunteering in all manner of ways, in shelters, at food banks, tending neighbors, providing care to children of essential workers; for summer camps turned to respite sites and places to quarantine and receive a warm meal. A little goes such a long way. A tear can be wiped or watched to fall. Help us to be present in those moments. Lord, have compassion for our desire to do everything we can. Love us when we feel we can’t do enough or figure things out fast enough.

Help us to remember those who are forgotten, the “not newsworthy,” the “last year’s news,” those in the “wrong” country. Break down our prejudices and hatred, shake apart our sinfulness and false righteousness that have nothing to do with compassion and good will.

Be with tribal peoples who are disproportionately suffering from this plague. School us in matching resources to need. Cause swift action to help, versus to deny and degrade. Be with the Dine’ (the Navajo peoples of the U.S. Southwest). Be with all tribes and aboriginal peoples as they bury their dead, seek testing and shelter in place.

May our masks speak of our love and care – to be a symbol of openheartedness. Teach our eyes to smile, our eyebrows to lift in welcome and show those funny awkward distant embraces as we wrap our arms around ourselves when we see another. Cause us to wave and yell hello from windows.

Oh Lord, we ask that you breath your Pentecostal fire in us–now–in this moment. Help us take up our “plowshares” to address the emergency in our most fragile nations. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) reports this week that COVID-19 is eminent in over thirty so-called crisis countries unless we take swift action. Take us away from the podiums of falsehood. Direct us to the faces of those already suffering from war, displacement, those sheltered in dense refugee camps, those who lack water and sanitation, and those near famine. The IRC, with the Imperial College and the World Health Organization, have determined that if help is not forthcoming soon in those countries, 3 million deaths and 1 billion infections are likely.

We lay before you then, these our gravest fears. Burn through our dread and inaction. Create in us awareness and right action. We lift up our mighty resource of prayer to tend to the sorrows of Syria, Yemen, South Sudan, Burkina Faso and Venezuela, of refugee camps in Greece, of the peoples in Afghanistan.

Remind us that a virus can cause suffering and
that we can remove suffering in so very many ways.

May we do your will and see your kin-dom on earth as it is in heaven.
We pray, we work, we give and we shelter.
In your name.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, April 23, 2020

Praying with Psalm 116 in this time of pandemic*

We love you, O God, because you have heard the voice of our supplications,
because you have inclined your ear to us whenever we called upon you. (Psalm 116, v. 1, adapted)

Because you have been faithful to us, O God, from time immemorial, bringing us time and again out of despair into hope, out of death into new life, yet even now in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic shall we trust you.

The cords of death entangled us;
the grip of the grave took hold of us;
we came to grief and sorrow. (v. 2, adapted)

The count of the dead, and the ill; the endangered; the closed-in, the unemployed or out-of-business or unable to provide for their families – the numbers are beyond our comprehension.

San Marino, Belgium, Andorra, Spain, Italy, France, St. Marten, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Sweden, Isle of Man, Switzerland, Channel Islands, Ireland, United States, Luxembourg, and Monaco are all reporting more than 100 deaths per 1M population. That’s 2,714,942 confirmed cases worldwide and 190,395 deaths reported so far – but we know those counts are likely to be way underreported, since testing for the virus is basically unavailable in many developing countries. And the first wave of the pandemic hasn’t even peaked yet. (Statistics as of today from https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries).
Handwashing with soap and water is crucial to preventing the spread of COVID-19. Yet in sub-Saharan Africa (that’s 46 countries), 63 per cent of people in urban areas lack access to handwashing. It’s 22 per cent in the urban regions of Central and South Asia, and 28 per cent in Indonesia. Even many health care facilities don’t have basic sanitation.
The International Labour Organization this week reported that more than 4 out of five workers globally live in countries affected by full or partial lockdown measures. In the U.S., nearly 27 million people have lost their jobs and filed for unemployment since the crisis began. Half of the private sector workers in France are now unemployed. The United Nations is predicting 195 million jobs will be lost worldwide due to the virus.
Severe famine “of Biblical proportions” is likely to hit 30 or more under-developed nations due to the labor shortages and supply disruptions caused by the pandemic, according to reports released this week by the United Nations. The greatest worry is for people living in conflict zones and those forced from their homes and into refugee camps, especially in northeastern Nigeria, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

We can’t even name, let alone mourn, that many lives lost, so many countries locked down, so many people trying to shelter in place, so many families disrupted, so many at risk of starvation. We are buried in our grief and shock; tangled between our desire for life to return to normal (soon, if not even sooner) and fear-filled and realistic prudence (that warns it may be months or years before we can safely end our social isolation).

The sheer numbers are beyond our stunned comprehension. Yet you, O God, have known and adored us before we are even born. You count the hairs on every head. You accompany every person who dies, and comfort every person who grieves. You restore the trembling nations. Even now, we shall trust.

Then we called upon your holy Name:
“O God, we pray you, save our lives.” (v. 3, adapted)

And we see your saving hand at work, not through a sudden magic snap of your fingers, but in so many large and small daily items:

Thousands of scientists, researchers, doctors and other health professionals across the globe, sharing ideas and data across national boundaries in the rush to find a vaccine, a cure.
An overwhelming number of people in Spain stepping in to foster the pets of those who have fallen ill
Eric Kim, an Oregon, U.S., high school student who is making clear face masks so the hearing-impaired can communicate while protected.
Ireland pledging to quadruple its pledge to the World Health Organization. and last Saturday’s “One World: Together At Home” concert in the U.S. that raised $127.9 million for WHO’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.
Restaurants and bakeries and food trucks in many places donating meals to health care workers and seniors, and individuals and agencies donating money so these businesses can buy more food and pay their employees.
People posting on the internet, “If anyone near me can’t afford food or medicine, message me, and I’ll help.” And then doing so – for strangers.
The factory in Kenya that – overnight – transformed from making gardening clothes, to assembling 30,000 surgical masks a day. And what this change symbolizes for the workers there. Josephine Wambua, 24, who never went to school, said, “To sit here and do something that is useful to the world is a dream. I never thought I would be part of something that has the potential of saving millions from dying.”

You, O God, are the one who gives us life, and gives it abundantly. Even now, we shall trust.

We will walk in the presence of God,
In the land of the living. (v. 8, adapted)

We celebrated Earth Day on April 22, marking the 50th such annual celebration. Even from within our COVID-19 restrictions, we could look out and know the presence of God…in a flower, a hummingbird, the stars, the wind….in the face of a loved one here with us, or online, or in our memories…in the commitments we make, to made this a life-giving planet…

For you, O God, have entrusted us with this your world, and with one another – your beloved children.

How shall we repay God
for all the good things done for us?

We will lift up the cup of salvation
and call upon the Name of God.

We will fulfill our vows to God
in the presence of all people. (v10-12, adapted)

Even now, we trust.
Amen.

*Portions of Psalm 116 will be read this coming Sunday in all churches that use the Revised Common Lectionary. Verses here are adapted from The Saint Helena Psalter. Since we are all so physically isolated these days, it seemed appropriate to change the language of the psalm from a personal, first-person prayer, to one prayed by and for all of us.

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 – Thursday, 20 February 2020

World News in Prayer – Thursday, February 20, 2020

We offer our prayers for the growth of God’s kingdom in our world today, uniting our voices with Christ, who perfects our prayers. Let us pray.

Holy Rock, when our world trembles and quakes, when plagues of locusts take over, and when drought and wildfires wreak havoc on ecosystems, we come to you in prayer. We continue our prayers for the people of Puerto Rico, United States, and countries in southern Africa still experiencing drought, especially Zimbabwe. We pray also for Murrurundi, Australia, a small town that has not felt the relief of rains that much of Australia has. Restore among us a love of the earth you created and give us respect for all your creatures.

Your kingdom come; your will be done.

Friend to all, we pray for the 2,000+ people who have died from the Coronavirus and the approximately 75,000 who are infected. When we are tempted to turn away from your people and find new reasons to discriminate against one group or other, remind us that pointing the finger at anyone based on their ethnicity is wrong and that, before you, all people are holy.

Your kingdom come; your will be done.

God of compassion, we pray for the 32 people who were killed in the crossfire between security forces and the separatists during an attack in Cameroon over the weekend. We pray for the people of Syria, where Turkey and the Syrian regime have been attacking one another harder and harder. Be present with all those fleeing war and violence with nowhere to go. Inspire the hearts and minds of our leaders and our military that they may seek your righteousness and lovingkindness so that liberty and peace may dwell with your people.

Your kingdom come; your will be done.

Divine teacher, may our prayers manifest into actions that guide us toward your will. Send your Holy Spirit’s blessing to each one of us and all of your good creation.

Your kingdom come; your will be done.

Amen.