Spirit of God, as you hovered over the waters at the start of the creation, hover over the waterways of our world through navigation, water treatment, purification, desalination, and sewage treatment to prevent the spread of waterborne diseases.  We pray for the safe passage of goods and supplies as nations use maritime waterways, where wars and piracy threaten the distribution of commodities, with 80% of the world’s goods at risk.

God of the Seas, we pray for these global pinch points:

• The Strait of Hormuz, the most critical passageway on the planet with the narrowest section at 33 km wide, with no alternate route for ships exiting the Persian Gulf, a focus of attention since 20 percent of the world’s oil supplies and fertilizer pass through there, with highly contentious stoppages of the flow this year due to the war between the US and Iran.
• The Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a narrow chokepoint at the southern end of the sea between Djibouti/Eritrea in the Horn of Africa and the Middle Eastern country of Yemen, serving as the connecting point between the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Indian Ocean.
• The Strait of Malacca, a narrow passageway between the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra, connecting the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, serving as the passageway for China’s oil exports.
• The Suez Canal, connecting the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, serving as the link between Asian manufacturing and European markets.
• The Panama Canal, connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, serving as the link between Asian manufacturing and the US east coast markets as well as the Latin American networks of trade.
• The Turkish Strait between the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, serving as the critical corridor for Ukrainian grain and energy exports.

Lord of the Many Rivers, we pray for the rivers of the world, where high temperatures, drought, and heavy agricultural use have caused critically low levels of water:

• In North America: The Colorado River in the US Southwest and the Rio Grande, where portions are running dry before reaching the Gulf of Mexico.
• In Europe: Record lows for the Rhine River in Germany and the Netherlands, severely affecting the capacity of commercial cargo shipping. Historic lows of the Danube River with emergency operations of riverbed blasting to maintain water flows for nuclear plant cooling. The Loire River in France and the Po River in Italy are experiencing prolonged dryness, affecting regional agriculture.
• In South America: low levels of the Amazon River and its tributaries are stranding remote communities and disrupting transportation of goods and services.
• In Asia and the Middle East: the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers have experienced shortages due to extreme drought in Iraq. The Indus Basin rivers are suffering from diminished glacial melt and dry spells.

God of Many Waters, we pray for flooded areas of our world:

• Northwestern Gansu Province in China, where the death toll increases due to widespread flooding during intense summer storms.
• Sri Lanka, where monsoon downpours closed schools, caused mudslides, and forced evacuation of more than three thousand persons.
• Viet Nam: heavy rains fell in the mountainous regions, while submerging the low-lying areas.
• Afghanistan: new floods this week, where landslides had already closed businesses and displaced communities as a result of floods two weeks ago, further straining the severe humanitarian crisis.
• Northeastern United States: flash flooding affected several states, destroying buildings and submerging roadways.

Thank you, O Loving One, for your steadfast love and faithfulness. Thank you for places where righteousness and justice meet. We continue to pray for areas of our world where nations are in conflict, wildfires blaze, diseases are rampant, and people are displaced from their homes for various reasons. Thank you for caring for your children, who seek you and find you to be their source of strength and hope in a beautiful yet wearying world. Amen