“I, along with St Paul, am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 8: 38, 39)
In the wake of the killing of American journalist James Foley, we pray for those who are kidnapped, especially the long term disappeared. May Your love be revealed to the many people coping with having those they care for kidnapped; and for the survivors of kidnapping, those for whom it is hard to remember and even harder to hold on – help each one recall the reality that nothing can separate us from Your love.
We pray for the rescuers combing through the site of landslides triggered by rain in Hiroshima, Japan, desperately wishing not to find more bodies. For those clearing up from the flash flooding in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.A., even as the severe drought continues in California also in the U.S.A. As scientists strive to understand the world’s weather we pray for the wisdom to use and share water wisely.
With tourists being evacuated in parts of Iceland, as another volcano threatens to erupt under the largest glacier, we pray for those who try to predict seismic events, things present and things to come, and thereby save lives,
As the Ebola epidemic in Western Africa continues to spread, we rejoice that there may be signs of an emerging treatment. We give thanks for the generosity of medical staff in continuing to care for their patients. May those too fearful to seek treatment; those unable to understand that “little, biting, invisible things” can cause illness; those who wrongly accuse others of bringing the disease, all come to know that there is nothing in all creation that is not known to you.
We pray for those who teach and those who desperately, determinedly, seek an education, that the world might hear and understand. You have given us the ability to discover, to increase in knowledge, to advance. We pray for those who deny learning for themselves and others.
As we hear of riots in Missouri, U.S.A. and in Liberia – for widely differing reasons – we encounter something of the fear there is in all our lives over inequality and injustice. We pray that neither rulers not powers will ultimately prevent equality, justice and mercy from being made real for all.
And in all this we pray for those who mourn that in the depths of their grief they too might realize we are not alone, we are not separated from Your love, revealed in Jesus.
What glory there is with You! In the heights and in the depths You are there. Receive our prayers for ourselves and our world. Amen
Leave a Reply