World in Prayer

World News This Week in Prayer- Thursday, October 26, 2017

A 500th Anniversary Reformation Litany (Adapted from the writings of Lutheran reformers)

Note:  31 October 2017 marks 500 years since the monk and priest Martin Luther nailed a series of statements calling for reform in the Catholic church to the door of the city church in Wittenberg, Germany.  This action unwittingly set off the German Reformation, the splintering of catholic unity in western Europe, and the development of dozens of different Christian denominations over the next decades and centuries.  On this day, we celebrate God’s gift of Christian freedom that allows all Christians to believe and practice their faith according to their consciences.  We also pray fervently for God’s continued re-formation of the Church, so that, even in our diversity, we might better reflect the unity of Christ and so that, even in our disagreement, we might better represent God’s kingdom of love and justice on earth.

P: Through all times and places, God’s grace has been at work, building up the faith of God’s people and inspiring good works in the name of Jesus Christ.  Christ’s church stands as an imperfect testament to God’s love as we work for justice and peace in all the earth.  The Word of God has resounded through the ages, proclaiming Jesus Christ as the center of the universe and the hinge of history.
C: We celebrate the Reformation which continues even today.

P: For Christ has redeemed us, even though we were lost. He has freed us from all sins, from death, and from the power of evil, not with gold or silver but with his precious blood and innocent death. (adapted from Martin Luther, 1528)
C: We give thanks for the gift of grace.

P: God of forgiveness and second chances, your patience and love for us never end, even as we fail again and again to live as your children.  Remind us of your faithfulness as we engage with the unglamorous, long-term recovery efforts in places that have experienced natural disasters:  hurricanes in Ireland and the United Kingdom, and in Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico, United States; an earthquake in Mexico City, Mexico; wildfires in Portugal, Spain, and the United States; and severe flooding in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal.  Teach us compassion as we face new needs in the wake of Typhoon Lan and its destruction in Shizuoka, Japan.  Reform us and renew us as we respond in gratitude to your gift of grace by sharing that grace with others.
C: Amen.

P: Faith is a sincere confidence in the grace of God, promised to us in Christ, kindled in the heart by the Holy Spirit.  (adapted from Johann Arndt, 1605)
C: We give thanks for the gift of faith.

P: God of truth, your steadfast love endures forever, even as our faith in you wavers and falters.  We make decisions based on fear, and we trust in our own abilities rather than in your will for us:  this week, Australia has rejected a groundbreaking clean energy proposal in favor of a plan that will lower costs and secure the energy grid, and the Czech Republic has elected a new leader with an anti-refugee stance, joining many nations around the world that are turning their focus inward in response to social and financial anxieties.  Reform us and renew us as we seek to live as people whose faith and trust rest not in human power, but in the power of your love.
C: Amen.

P: We must be saved only and alone through faith; our works are a fruit of faith and are connected with the gratitude we owe to God.  (adapted from Philipp Spener, 1675)
C: We give thanks for the gift of good works.

P: God of empowerment, despite our failings, you bless us with opportunities to be your hands and feet in the world.  You transform our selfish and sinful natures and give us capacity for compassion and love.  Forestry groups in Iceland fight to restore trees that will reduce soil erosion and combat climate change.  Nicaragua has signed the Paris climate agreement, leaving only two countries that do not support this international effort to protect our environment.  Raqqa, Syria, long held as the headquarters of the radical ISIS militant group, has been mostly liberated, though fighting and dangerous conditions will continue for some time.  Reform us and renew us with boldness to serve you with all that we have and all that we are.
C: Amen.

P: The church is truly the church only when it exists for others. (adapted from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1944)
C: We give thanks for the gift of the church.

P: God of all creation, you have raised up the church so that the world might be blessed though us, but we often feel overwhelmed by the suffering that we see around us. Political conflicts in Venezuela and Spain continue to hurt the vulnerable.  The death toll rises in the aftermath of a truck bombing in Mogadishu, Somalia.  Remind us that we are not alone in facing these problems.  Reform us and renew us with the presence of your Holy Spirit, so that your church might be a symbol of hope in a suffering world.
C:  Amen.

P: Our identity is in Jesus Christ and nobody else.  (adapted from Elizabeth Eaton, 2014)
C: We give thanks for the gift of Jesus Christ.

P:  God of mercy and grace, we commit our lives to your living Word, Jesus Christ.  Help us, your church universal, to grow in faith and love, so that we might always live in trust and hope.  Make us bold to share your good news with the world as members of Christ’s church, and make us humble to acknowledge our own role in dividing the body of Christ.  Fill us with wisdom to find our common ground in Christ, and give us patience to face disagreement with grace and embrace diversity with gratitude.  Guide our lives, forgive our sins, inspire our thoughts, shape our attitudes, and fill us with hope and joy, assuring us of your constant presence in all times and all places.
C: Amen.

 

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, October 19, 2017

Dear Lord,

Your people in Puerto Rico and across the Caribbean have looked up into rain flooded skies and out onto destroyed homelands, waiting for water, food, shelter and the provision of medical care. Open the hearts of decision makers to release funds to continue the rescue, to bring relief and stability. Smooth the communications to move people to care as the USNS Comfort (US naval ship) waits for the needy. Help us to grow in compassion as a people as we listen to news from hurricane-devastated places and during the long recovery, not forgetting the gulf coast.

We pray for the Rohingya peoples who await smugglers to take them across the Naf River between Myanmar and Bangladesh. Others make the treacherous journey to safety through jungles and mountains and into refugee camps such as Balukali, Kutupalong and Nayapara, where the depth of need is continually expanding. Dear God, our Comforter and Protector, be with the nation of Bangladesh and the NGO’s as they summon all their capacity to meet the needs of these deeply suffering refugees. Surround exhausted families with nourishing sleep. Tend to the children who make up 60% of the refugees – lost and torn from their families. Open our eyes to the horror of genocide, as a people are being erased from Myanmar’s history and annihilated. Come Holy Spirit. Guide the world as it seeks to address this calamity.

Some look up into smoke and ash filled skies in the western United States barely escaping burning homes and a tortured landscape and yet 10,000 firefighters – including 100 women prisoners working as firefighters – move toward the flames. Renew their energy to endure and guard their steps. We are so grateful for their unique skills in this treacherous work. Dear God, provide shelter to families bereft of everything they owned. Sustain the communities in their great work of serving these families, providing food, a listening ear, counseling and guidance in next steps and getting in touch with family. Be with the 42 families who have lost loved ones and the 68 families with unaccounted for loved ones. Hold them in their distress.

Some hide in the shelter of darkness yet afraid. “Has the fighting stopped?” Oh Lord, how seemingly endless is the noise and dust and calamity of war and the horrific suffering, the interminable loss and degradation. We pray for the peoples caught in the wars within wars, in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region of Kirkuk, for the police killed in Taliban raids and bombings in the Paktia and Ghazni provinces in Afghanistan. We pray for the dead and wounded civilians as they were waiting to get their identity cards. We pray for an end to 6 years of suffering in the Syrian civil war displacing 6.3 million people internally, causing the deaths of 400,000 with more than 5 million Syrians fleeing the country.

Open the hearts of combatants to give safe humanitarian access. Our hearts are torn again as we hear about the global food crisis, severe food insecurity, and the increasing risk of full on famine in northeast Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen. Some are too week to sit or even cry, hungry to the point of death. Oh God, you are listening. You surround them. You love them. Open our hearts. Help us to prayerfully consider our time, talent and treasure. Help us to share the wealth from our tables. Bring peace in those places where war creates famine, where conflict creates war, where war seems to be endless.

We watched with deep concern as Ireland and the UK received the effects of Hurricane Ophelia downgraded to a tropical storm. We are saddened at the loss of life as severe winds toppled trees on to cars. We are grateful for advanced warning such that the Irish Defense Forces were ready where needed and schools were closed keeping children safe. Be with families in their sudden grief and with those experiencing the deep deep losses in Portugal and Spain as wildfires fanned by the winds of the very same hurricane have brought further catastrophe. Again we pray for the 6,000 firefighters and nations called to come together in these wildfires. Be with the injured and their caregivers as severe burns are treated. Comfort those who are in mourning of the over thirty-two victims including a one-month old infant taken so quickly. Many weep for their cherished lands and fields, and livestock so vulnerable. Comfort them in their mourning. Give them your strength.

And your people in Mogadishu, where the Somali nation again suffers a bombing so despicable and barbaric with over 276 lives destroyed in an instant. Oh Lord, we take-in this news of the over 300 injured and suffering, and families still searching for the missing. We hear of the need for donor blood, the exhausted hospital staff, and how they keep going, as its populace is weeping, weeping, weeping. Help them as they assemble and arise as a people to discern steps for increased stability and safety in their nation. Comfort your people of Somalia in their great sorrow. Bring them peace.

Guide us in our faith. Help us to seek your will.

May we rush to understand one another, to love urgently, and to grow steadily in becoming more tolerant.

From you comes all blessings and life itself.

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, August 3, 2017

The Lord upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down. Psalm 145:14

There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole;

There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul.

God of grace and glory, God who knows our hearts and minds, you can see, you can feel the pain of your children as we attempt to honestly bring to you our concerns for the people of this world, our sisters and brothers in so many places, people who are striving for good and honest and just government in Venezuela and Brazil, in Syria and Iran, in Kenya and Turkey and Pakistan. We lift up those abducted in the night, those arrested, jailed, and persecuted for speaking out for justice and their stance against the governments they believe are not functioning in the best interests of the people.

The Lord upholds those who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down.

Even as migrants continue to risk everything crossing into Europe, preyed upon by smugglers, as people in Central America continue to flee gang violence, human trafficking and threats to their lives, so many national governments are attempting to limit immigration, tightening immigration laws, heedless that our sisters and brothers desperately need both sanctuary and hope, and so we lift up both the refugees and those in government, that hearts might be opened and lives saved.

The Lord upholds those who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down.

Send your protective mercy to the firefighters in Western Canada and USA as forests and fields, families and communities come into harms way and a smokey haze fills the region impacting the health of elders and those with respiratory conditions.

The Lord upholds those who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down.

Even as our hearts are heavy, you gift us to see glimmers of light which shine from unexpected places: the man who gave a ride to a stranger in need in North Carolina, USA who now continues to offer rides to strangers in need he encounters; the young Wal-Mart employee in Oklahoma, USA who paid for the groceries of a harried and struggling foster mom at the check-out counter; and 8-year-old Roxy Gettes who became the youngest girl to conquer Mount Kilimanjaro, Kenya with her family.  We lift up all who continue to inspire us and give us hope in the goodness and beauty of life.

The Lord upholds those who are falling; and raises up all who are bowed down.

As we look toward the wonder of the total solar eclipse later this August, and are reminded how marvelous and consistent are the forces of nature that are outside of our control. We lift up those in Kenya, Botswana, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo who are working to save the elephants, as well as those policy-makers in China who are working to outlaw the ivory trade. Keep us ever mindful of our role as stewards taking seriously our responsibility to care for this amazing world.

The Lord upholds those who are falling; and raises up all who are bowed down.

God of grace and glory, God who knows our hearts and minds, help us in our determination to be the people you have created and called us to be. When we become discouraged, lift us up. When we think it is all up to us, fill us with humility. When our hearts become fearful and fretful, remind us of your unfailing love, which flows even through us.

The Lord upholds those who are falling; and raises up all who are bowed down.

In this promise, we live and move and have our being. Amen and Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, July 27

The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple….
My eyes shed streams of tears because your law is not kept. Ps 119: 130, 136

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. Romans 8:26

Forgive us, Lord, for reducing your might, majesty, and power to fit our comfort zone. The news of world events overwhelms us. We can be assailed by doubts, fear, and despair while choosing to say that you are God over all. So often this masks, however scantily, our lack of faith and understanding.

Forgive us, Lord, we implore you.

Lord, hear us: may your Holy Spirit breathe life into our prayers.

This week, whether in the northern or southern hemispheres of our shared planet, bush-fires, floods, snow storms, thunder storms, drought, famine, and melting glaciers causing water levels to raise world-wide have brought havoc and devastation to millions. Behind such abstract figures are individual stories of people who are just like us.

We pray for and give thanks for all aid agencies and people helping their neighbours in this time of great need. Forgive us for our heedless use of resources not rightly ours. Teach us to touch the earth lightly and to live thoughtfully and in harmony with the generous provisions in Creation you have given for us and all your children.

Lord, hear us: may your Holy Spirit breathe life into our prayers.

We hear of wars and rumours of wars and violence in Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, Egypt and at local levels in all of our own countries. Hatred and fear of difference make us dehumanise our neighbours and inflate ourselves. We continue to pray for justice for all regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or politics. We long for the time when this will be the norm throughout the world. Prince of Peace, jolt us awake when we casually slide into indifference and cruelty to each other. May we follow your example in our daily lives.

Lord, hear us: may your Holy Spirit breathe life into our prayers.

We give thanks for the love and compassion for others often shown by wounded individuals. Jodi Ann Bickley from Birmingham, UK, who fights depression, has written over 4,000 letters of encouragement to complete strangers as part of her One Million Lovely Letters project started in 2013. These life-enhancing and life-changing letters have transformed the lives of the recipients and even helped youngsters in rural South Africa move beyond their experience of abuse and violence and marginalisation. Open us up to hear your prompts for loving acts you wish us to do and for the loving people you wish us to be.

Lord, hear us: may your Holy Spirit breathe life into our prayers.

Open our ears, glorious Lord Christ, to hear the music of your voice above the chaos of this world: the power of your love, your mercy for each one of us, and the wisdom and wonders of your law and commandments which promises to lead us from darkness to light. Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, July 6, 2017

Lord, time after time the news reflects what has happened; this week’s events reflecting what has already happened.  So we pray for those for whom the news is also “olds” – for they remember the pain, the trauma, the fear, the deep changes in their lives.

We pray for those caught in the fire in a multi-story building in Johannesburg, South Africa and for those still suffering trauma from earlier fires.

We pray for those who watch the North Korean missile firings with horror and remember.

In the US Fourth of July celebrations of thirteen American colonies adoption of the Declaration of Independence, proclaiming citizens’ right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, in every announcement of liberation we pray also for the people of Mosul, Iraq and Raqqa and Idlib, Syria.

As Canada celebrates 150 years since the 1867 Constitution of Canada allowed for the merger of 3 colonies.  We pray for Indigenous people across the world, and especially for the First Nations, Inuit and Metis of Canada, the Native Hawaiian, American Indian and Alaska Natives of the US,  the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil, the Māori Tribes of New Zealand and the Indigenous Australian Peoples.

Following the arrest of Ebtisam al-Saegh, a human rights activist in Bahrain and the peace-and-love celebration in Malheur National Forest, Oregon, USA where there were 15 arrests and 2 deaths, we pray for those who peacefully demonstrate remembering especially those who protested in Washington DC, USA in January and still face legal charges.

We pray for the life of baby Charlie Gard and his parents, as the legal case in the UK has ended and now others try to intervene.  We also pray for other bereaved parents in their grief.

Lawrence Moore, a church mission and discipleship consultant who also attends Worsley Road United Reformed Church in Salford, England, prays:

“O God,

There are many who pray far more desperately for the coming of your Kingdom than I do.

They beg you for daily bread because they go to bed hungry.

They pray for deliverance from oppression and exploitation.

They long for people who look and behave like you –

who see their desperation and are moved to tears of compassion or

a burning anger that will not let them rest while things stay as they are.

Fill me with your Holy Spirit, I pray,

that my heart will overflow with your compassion,

that I will find the courage to stand up against injustice,

that I will make a Jesus-shaped difference to my world.

Grant, by your grace, that I will be the answer to the prayers of the very least

and proclaim with my life as well as my mouth

that Jesus is the Messiah.”

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 This Week in Prayer – Thursday, June 15, 2017

The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;
therefore ask the overseer of the harvest to send out laborers into the harvest.
—Matthew 9.37-38

Harvest  by Pastor Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Maybe the harvest is not bringing people to Christ
but gathering the fruits of the Spirit
God has sown in you
for the sake of the world.

Maybe it’s not an act of taking,
but receiving.

The harvest is plentiful
but few are the people who have gathered,
who have received the gifts, the grace,
the love growing in your heart,
and feasted on those fruits
to be strengthened to go out
and heal the wounded,
and be good news for the broken of the world.

The field stretches to the horizon.
There are more trees in this orchard
than stars in heaven.

What grace have you not yet harvested?
Go into that good harvest.
Here is a basket for your labors. Go.
Called together in the Spirit’s embrace, let us pray for the mending of God’s world.

Holy God, Loving God, Steadfast God, Compassionate God, looking at this world which You have created, this world over which You have given us stewardship, it is so easy to become discouraged and disheartened, to forget Your call to harvest Your grace, and to be good news for those who are broken. Sometimes all our tear-clouded eyes can see is the heartache and heartbreak which holds us in its thrall, making it difficult to see anything other than darkness and despair:

*Despair about an unknown blast which went off in eastern China, leaving at least seven people dead and over sixty-five others injured.

*Despair about a suicide car bombing into a hotel restaurant in Mogadishu, Somalia, where at least nineteen are dead and many others wounded

*Despair about the fire in the Grenfell Tower in London, England, where at least seventeen people have died and dozens of others are in hospitals, many of them in critical condition.

*Despair about the shooting in Virginia, US, at a Congressional baseball game practice, where six people were shot and the gunman was killed.

*Despair about Ohio, US student, Otto Warmbler, released by North Korea after seventeen months in captivity, who is in the hospital suffering from a severe neurological injury.

*Despair about the hundreds of civilian casualties in Raqqa, Syria, due to US-led air strikes.

*Despair about hot car deaths – deaths of children being left alone in vehicles during hot weather – occurring in the US, as three children have died in the last week.

*Despair about the road-rage shooting and killing of 2-year-old Laylah Washington of Memphis, Tennessee, US.

 

Holy God, Loving God, Steadfast God, Compassionate God, looking at this world which You have created, this world which You call us to co-create with You, open our eyes and our hearts to see the harvest of Your grace-filled love which is being made manifest in countless places, through countless people, children of Your own creation.

*The harvest of over one hundred and twenty migrants, who had been abandoned by traffickers without food or water in the Sahara desert, by Niger authorities.

*The harvest of the organization My Stealthy Freedom in Iran, led by Masih Alinejad, an Iranian journalist who boldly organized #whitewednesdays to protest a law forcing Iranian women to wear head scarves.

*The harvest of the work of 26-year-old Rahmatullah Arman, who, through Teach for Afghanistan, has placed 80 graduates from Afghan universities into twenty-one schools to teach 23,000 students in the hope of reducing the country’s 60% adult illiteracy rate.

*The harvest of the election in Ireland of Leo Varadkar, of Indian descent, as the country’s youngest and first openly-gay prime minister.

 

Holy God, Loving God, Steadfast God, Compassionate God, looking at this world which You have created, this world which You love, we Your people reach out this day. We reach out with grief and gratitude, with worry and wonder, and with tears and triumph. We open ourselves to Your Spirit as it longs to fill us with the gifts of Your grace, to empower us with the strength and courage to speak truth, and to work for justice and the healing of wounds we encounter and cause. May it be so, today and every day.

Amen.

 

 

 

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, April 27, 2017

Amen.
Yes.
So be it.
It will certainly be like this.
May it be so.
This is the truth.
On this we can depend.
Amen!

Compassionate and loving God, as we watch events unfold across our world, our emotions often cannot be translated into words.  So we call out to You with a word You gave us through Your holy Word and on the lips of Your Word made flesh: “Amen”. Amen, we say, at once pleading, celebrating, and hoping for the coming of Your kingdom into our world of laughter and tears, fear and faith.

Although our news is often filled with suffering and hate, we know that Your love is evident all around us, O God.  Our amens are joyful as we celebrate the small glimpses of Your kingdom that we can see in this world.  We rejoice at the humanity of Syrian photographer Abd Alkader Habak, who put down his camera to rescue a child who was injured in a car bomb explosion in Aleppo, Syria.  As we commemorate the World Health Organization’s World Malaria Day this week, we delight in the development of the world’s first malaria vaccine, which will be distributed throughout Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi beginning in 2018.  We are glad at the news of a newly-discovered coral reef in Brazil, where scientists may find new species of plant and animal life.  As we observe all the ways Your gifts of love and talent are present in our world, our amens become a celebration of Your promise to be with us always, and so we shout with joy:

Amen!  On this we can depend.

As we witness the pain of Your beloved children and the abuse of Your beloved creation, our amens turn to pleas for Your intervention.  The consequences of humanity’s mistreatment of the earth continue to spread as more landslides plague Latin America and South America, including a landslide in Maniales, Colombia that left at least 17 dead, while victims of Cyclone Debbie in Australia and New Zealand continue struggling to recover from flooding and damage.  Our abuse of one another reveals the sinfulness of our human hearts.  As of now, 29 people have died during protests and counter-protests in Venezuela in the wake of a political struggle over separation of powers.  A wave of violence in the Laikipia region of Kenya in recent weeks has left damage to property and people, including the shooting of well-known conservationist Kuki Gallmann.  Decisions from the Supreme Court of the US have made way for a series of hurried judicial executions in Arkansas, including the first double execution in 16 years.  As our hearts break at the suffering and injustice in our world, our amens become a reminder of Your promises of a just and joy-filled future, and so we cry out to You:

Amen!  May it be so.

As we watch for signs of Your Spirit at work in the world, our amens ascend as hopeful reminders of Your loving presence and the seeds of Your kingdom that are being planted all around us.  The provincial government of Ontario, Canada, is tackling poverty with a test program which gives poor people a basic income, an initiative similar to one launched in Finland earlier this year.  The potential for compassionate and discerning governments can be glimpsed in Vietnam, where a hostage situation resulting from a dispute over land rights ended with the safe release of all hostages, along with a promise from local authorities to investigate and re-examine local land use policies.  On Earth Day over 600 marches and protests took place around the world, as individuals and groups used their voices to highlight the importance of science for improving lives and protecting our fragile planet.  As we witness these small ways that Your kingdom breaks into our world, our amens become a song of hope that love will prevail, and so we exclaim:

Amen!  It will certainly be like this.

Hear the amens of our lips and our hearts this day and always, O God.  Bring reassurance to those who plead, joy to those who celebrate, and comfort to those who mourn.  In faithfulness to Your promise to hear our prayers, bring us help and hope as we cry, sing, shout, and pray without ceasing, in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ.

Amen and amen.