World in Prayer

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.

 

[i] Words: Hal Hopson, based on 1 Corinthians 13. Music based on an English Folk Tune Copyright 1972 by Hope Publishing Company, Carol Stream, Il. 60188. All Rights Reserved.

[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, 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 in Prayer – Thursday, 12th March 2020

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Africa – Algeria, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa

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

Guadalupe, Mexico, United States

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

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

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

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

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

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

We ask for your mercy in these times.

Increase our compassion. 

Sustain us in doing your will. 

Amen. 

World News This Week in Prayer – January 9, 2020

Dear God,

While we know you hold onto us, and we know that you are there during every moment of our lives, we also live with so much fear. Fear for the planet, fear for all people around the world, fear for our friends and family, fear for the places we live, and fear for our own lives. There is so much to be afraid of and yet we still know that you are here with us. We ask for your presence to wash over us now.

Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

We pray for the innocent everywhere. For those who suffer in solitude we ask that you be a companion. For those who don’t know where their next meal may come from, we ask for your presence. For those whose loved ones are dying around them, we ask that you be a blanket of comfort. For those who tremble in fear that they may lose their own lives, we ask that your peace be with them.

Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

We pray for your dear children in Australia as wildfires consume the land, homes, wildlife, and your dear people who suffer. We pray for the fires to be extinguished so that your beautiful land may remain as beautiful as it always has, and that you may keep your dear people blanketed with safety.

Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

We ask for your presence in Puerto Rico as an earthquake has caused two-thirds of Puerto Rico to be without electricity. As your children sit in darkness we pray for safety and for your light to shine.

Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

God, we pray for the immense unrest in Iran as your dear people sit in fear for their lives. We ask that your peace may overshadow the violence. We pray for swift guidance of those in political power as decisions are made.

Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

We ask that you be with all of those who lost one of their dear people as a Boeing airplane heading to Ukraine crashed in Iran killing 176 of your dear children. We ask for your presence as we sit with this tragedy. While we will never know the terror that your people felt, we ask that those who passed may rest in your love.

Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

God, there is so much to fear in this world and we don’t always have the words to express the terror we feel. We ask that you quiet our fears in a world in which we have so much to be fearful. We are so grateful Lord for the times of peace and moments when we can celebrate your love. As many celebrated Epiphany this past week, we remember the light of the star which directed the magi. Help us to shine the light you give to each of us. May your light outshine the fears we feel and give us our ultimate strength in you.

Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Amen.

World News in Prayer – Thursday 18 April 2019

Holy One,

As Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France burned this week, so many millions of us were bound together in heartbreak. As Notre Dame emerged damaged but not fully destroyed, so many millions were bound together in hope. As we consider Paris and Notre Dame, we pray for fulfilling and fruitful work of healing and rebuilding; we pray that this rebuilding might continue to draw us all together in a community of care.

We realize that such unity is how you hold the world at every moment. You gaze upon us with such sorrow when we destroy the world that you created. You gaze upon us with such delight when we work to save and strengthen the kin-dom you promise . You hold us all in your embrace. We seek to be united as we were this week – but rather than united by bonds of horror-filled helplessness, we pray that we might be united by bonds of awestruck, peaceful rejoicing. Teach us how to care for this world that you loved so deeply that you died for it.

Lord, hear us and answer our prayer.

Teach us how to love this world through the bleakness of Holy Week and into the earth-shaking radiance of Easter morning.

Lord, hear us and answer our prayer.

As we read the Easter story, teach us how to care for women who are not believed when they tell their stories; for men who hide their fear and despair in order not to be seen as “weak”; for authorities who make decisions that send unseen ripple effects through the generations.

Lord, hear us and answer our prayer.

As we consider this world that you love, teach us how to care for those grieving after the bus accident in Madeira, Portugal for those affected by rockets in Tripoli, Libya; for those protesting in Khartoum, Sudan after political unrest; for those caught up in tension over the upcoming election in Ukraine; for those living with economic crisis in Venezuela, for those living with widespread violence in Yemen.

Lord, hear us and answer our prayer.

And this week particularly, teach us how to care for other sacred places under threat – for the 3 historic and historically black churches that were burned by a terrorist in Louisiana, USA; for the Al-Aqsa mosque that burned in Jerusalem, Israel; for synagogues after last fall’s mass shooting in Pittsburgh, USA; for the religious lands of indigenous people across the globe, which have been sacrificed countless times across the years for new developments and pipelines.

Lord, hear us and answer our prayer.

This week we acknowledge that darkness is real and that death will make a stand.

Lord, hear us and know that in the midst of such darkness and conflict, we trust in your light, love and power.

Yet this week we also declare with prayers and shouts, instruments and song, that death shall not have the final word. You are doing a new thing, even when all seems lost.

We pray these things because you are alive and with us. Living Lord, unseal the tomb, roll away the stone, and reveal to us how you are transforming the world.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer- Thursday, April 4, 2019

“Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.  I am about to do a new thing…”  ~ Isaiah 43: 18 – 19a. (NIV)

“For now my place is in him, and I am not dependent upon any of the self-achieved righteousness of the Law. God has given me that genuine righteousness which comes from faith in Christ. How changed are my ambitions! Now I long to know Christ and the power shown by his resurrection:

….I leave the past behind and with hands outstretched to whatever lies ahead I go straight for the goal—my reward the honor of being called by God in Christ. “  

     ~Philippians 3: 8-10, 13b -14. (J.B. Phillips New Testament)

Thank you, Holy One, for giving us such promise and hope.  You have told us repeatedly throughout history and scattered throughout the scriptures, that you are calling us forward to new life, new beginnings, new ways of being and doing – in You, for You, through You.  Yet as ever, we are mired in the trappings of the familiar, however pleasant or unpleasant, and fear of change holds us back. As we reflect on our shortcomings whether personal, national or international, help us to admit our crippling fears and failures, to throw ourselves on Your everlasting mercy and loving forgiveness. Then lead us to a new way of thinking, being and relating to each other and especially to You.

Holy One, hear our cries.

Change and fear of change is sweeping through so many of our countries ]including Algeria, Venezuela, Canada, the UK, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Japan.  Authoritarianism and seeing everything and everyone in binary terms increases fear, division and hopelessness. Open the eyes and ears of each one of us, to listen to the stories of others, discerning our common humanity rather than focusing on perceived and often illusory fears born out of ignorance and conjecture. You are the Creator of all and when you looked on it you saw that it was all VERY good.  How then can we despise, belittle and denigrate people you have created?

Holy One, open us to Your understanding of this world by the inflowing of Your Holy Spirit.

The darkness swirling around is almost overwhelming: when a “game” is made widely available to play act as a sociopathic Rapist; when the Sultan of Brunei implements this week Sharia law where a first offence of burglary will result in a hand amputation; where LGBT love is to merit stoning to death; when government agencies in so many of our countries arbitrarily operate outside the law: protect all who shine the light of justice, truth and righteousness.

Holy One, lighten our darkness and help us to individually choose to follow Your will and way.  By Your Spirit, enable us to be channels of Your love, light and grace.

We give thanks for all working quietly and often without mention to make the lives of others better, to ease loneliness and the sense of being marginalized and unwanted.  You saw that all that you made was VERY good. We give thanks for the women in Madagascar marginalized and ostracized for having obstetric fistulas following prolonged labor without medical intervention who, having received free treatment, are helping others break the taboo of getting help.  Also those from the divided communities of Turkish and Greek Cypriots using a building in buffer zone to reunite a bitterly divided island.  We give thanks that for all the efforts meeting the continuing desperate needs of communities devastated by natural disasters on all Continents.

Holy One, may we become one as You are one – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  To this You have called us.  AMEN.

marginalised and ostracised for having obstetric fistulas following prolonged labour without medical intervention who having received free treatment are helping others break the taboo of getting help.  Also those from the divided communities of Turkish and Greek Cypriots using a building in buffer zone to reunite a bitterly divided island.  We give thanks that for all the efforts meeting the continuing desperate needs of communities devastated by natural disasters on all Continents.

 

Holy One, may we become one as You are one – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  To this You have called us.  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, October 11, 2018

(Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer, Prayers of the People Form VI)

In peace, we pray to you, Lord God.

               Silence

For all people in their daily life and work;
     For our families, friends, and neighbors, and for those who are alone.

For this community, the nation, and the world; for the victims of Hurricane Michael in the United States; for all of the participants in the #MeToo movement, which is erupting in India;
     For all who work for justice, freedom, and peace.

For the just and proper use of your creation; for scientists, doctors, and nurses; for those who are grieving; for those who are marrying or divorcing; for those celebrating a new birth;
     For the victims of hunger, fear, injustice, and oppression, 

For all who are in danger, sorrow, or any kind of trouble, especially those in China‘s Xingiang region, where camps have been legalized to “re-educate” Muslim Uighurs;
     For those who minister to the sick, the friendless, and the needy.

For peace and unity, especially in the Eastern Orthodox Church, as a Ukrainian sect seeks to separate from Russia;
     For all who proclaim the Gospel, and all who seek the Truth.

For bishops and other ministers; for priests and preachers; for rabbis and imams;
     For all who serve God in his Church.

For the special needs and concerns of this congregation.

               Silence

(The People may add their own petitions)

Hear us, Lord;

We thank you, Lord, for all the blessings of this life.

Silence

(The People may add their own thanksgivings)

We will exalt you, O God our King;
     And praise your Name for ever and ever.

We pray for all who have died, that they may have a place in
your eternal kingdom.

Silence

(The People may add their own petitions)

Lord, let your loving-kindness be upon each of us;
     We put our trust in you, for your mercy is great. Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, August 18, 2016

World News in Prayer for Thursday, August 18, 2016

 Isaiah 58:9, 10
          Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and God will say,
          Here I am…If you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted
          then your light shall rise in the darkness, and your gloom be like the noonday.

 Lord of all languages, we pray with and for people all over this world…

  • for the laborers being exploited by businesses in China, India, North Korea, South Sudan and Sudan, especially the children forced to work long hours in order that we may buy less expensive goods.
  • for the citizens of Syria, where more than 250,000 have lost their lives in the ongoing civil war, where 11 million have been forced from their homes, where 4.5 million have become refugees fleeing their country, and where attacks on medical facilities are occurring every 17 hours.
  • for the citizens of Yemen, where the civil war has cost more than $14 billion, has killed more than 6,500 people, and has displaced 2.5 million more.
  • for the 65 victims of a deadly maritime disaster in Jianli, China, due to the capsizing of a river cruise ship.
  • for the people of Thailand, where a deadly wave of bomb blasts has occurred over the past several days in response to voters approving a new draft constitution.

Then we shall call and the Lord will answer; we shall cry for help and God will say, Here I am.

 Holy One, your Spirit speaks in creation, calling us to listen, and so we pray…

  • for the people of Louisiana, US, where severe flooding has been responsible for the deaths of at least 11 people, where more than 30,000 people have been rescued from rapidly-rising flood waters, where more than 8,000 people remain in shelters, and where more than 40,000 homes have been damaged.
  • for the more than 1,000 firefighters who are fighting numerous wildfires in the state of California, US, including a fire burning north of San Francisco, where more than 4,000 people have been evacuated, including the patients of one hospital, and where over 175 homes have been lost.

Then we shall call and the Lord will answer; we shall cry for help and God will say, Here I am.

 Brother Christ, you reached out to heal the bent-over woman, seeing her need, seeing her as a person of worth. Open our eyes to see the needs of women and girls throughout the world, and so we pray…

  • for the victims of the major human-trafficking ring shut down in Maryland, US, where girls as young as 15 were being forced into prostitution.
  • for the 218 schoolgirls from Chibok, Nigeria, kidnapped by Boko Haram, who remain captives – many of whom have been forcibly married to fighters, have borne children, and are living in dreadful conditions.
  • for Prime Minister Theresa May as she leads the United Kingdom to negotiate the complicated BREXIT.
  • for the many young women competing in the Olympic Games in Brazil, that they may serve as role models for girls and women around the world, offering the promise that girls and women can do anything.
  • for Pope Francis’ visit, as part of his Fridays of Mercy, to former sex slaves living in a housing center in Rome, Italy: Women trafficked from Romania, Albania, Tunisia, Ukraine, and Italy, and victims of severe abuse, which the Pope called “a crime against humanity”.

Then we shall call and the Lord will answer; we shall cry for help and God will say, Here I am.

 Divine Truth, you reveal yourself to us in so many ways. Open our eyes to see and our hearts to rejoice in prayer…

  • for the rare 4th century mosaic uncovered in Cyprus by a seven-person crew headed by archaeologist Fryni Hadjichristofi.
  • for the dedicated teachers in early childhood education who are making such a significant difference in the lives of poor children.
  • for 29-year-old Malaika, head nurse at Syria’s Aleppo Children’s Hospital, one of only a handful of health workers remaining in that besieged city, who continues to rescue the smallest of the small, even at the risk of her own life.

Then we shall call and the Lord will answer; we shall cry for help and God will say, Here I am.

 Open our eyes to both the beauty and the ugliness in our world, Loving God. Open our ears to the cries of our sisters and brothers in every place. Open our hands to do your work in the world. Open our hearts to feel the pain and joy, the discouragement and hope of all who long for freedom and peace and justice. Open us, today and every day, we pray.

Amen and Amen.

World News This Week In Prayer – Thursday, January 14, 2016

Your love is steadfast, O Lord, but how fickle we are. We are never satisfied. In our dissatisfaction we destroy that which we do not understand and devastate that which satisfies as if there is never enough. Our prayers are prayers of contrast as we recognize political, financial and economic pressures are very different across continents and countries.

Along with the United States of America seeking a solution to refugee crises, we hear of bomb attacks in Istanbul and Diyarbakir, Turkey and in Jakarta, Indonesia; we are not surprised as people struggle to leave these areas.

In severe winter weather in the Middle East, aid agencies are struggling to bring relief to the besieged town of Madaya as well as the villages of Kefraya and Fouaa in Syria, and we read that Israel cuts supplies of natural gas to Gaza.

As people gather to enjoy the World Cup skiing events taking place in Flachau, Austria, we pray for those from France and the Ukraine killed and caught up in the avalanche in Les Deux Alpes, France.  

Heavy rain is causing Australia’s Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre to fill, a rare event causing the desert to bloom, and we pause with concern for the people of Flint, Michigan in the U.S.A. who have been affected by lead in water.

In Britain the Environment Agency has been ordered to prioritize protecting homes, even when this means loss of livelihood to farmers through flooding farm land.  In Tanzania the government started demolishing up to 15,000 homes to clear a valley near Dar es Salaam, where many of those who work in the Kariakoo market live, to allow free flow of water.

We contrast the release of 10 American service members by Iran with the 600 days the Chibok girls have been kidnapped in Nigeria.

We give thanks West Africa has been declared Ebola-free even as we pray for South Sudan struggling with a severe malaria outbreak. We recognize that both these illnesses remain endemic in Africa.

We offer our prayers for ourselves; giving thanks for the wonders of medical science in healing and for the gifts of faith in dying; for the grace of finding somewhere to seek aid, to rest and be sheltered.

We exist both wondering at the beauty of our world and fearing it’s power.  We pray, failing to compare and contrast the wide range of solutions to the problems of each country and often dooming ourselves to repeat mistakes. “How precious is your steadfast love, O God!  All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings. Continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your salvation to the upright of heart!” Ps 36:7, 10.   Faithful God: this is our prayer for our world.

Amen.