Holy One,
When we want to linger in shadows, you expose us to light.
When we want to slump into a corner, you lift us up in your presence.
When we think our words, our actions, our lives have no effect, you remind us that we are leading people in surprising and unexpected ways.
So we pray to you, Shepherd of our souls. Gather our words, hold our hearts, guide our feet, and show us the next right step to take, as we pray for the world.
We pray for those people and places damaged during the anti-Muslim rioting in Sri Lanka, where tensions have exploded between the nation’s Muslim minority and Buddhist majority.
We pray for the survivors of school shootings, who look on while gun bills are debated in legislatures in Florida and throughout the USA.
We pray for an end to the continued fighting in Syria, as the boundaries between troops and civilians remain blurred and dangerous.
We pray for a grace-filled sense of stability in Yemen and the Democratic Republic of Congo, their people who have known too much conflict and struggle with violence and starvation everyday.
We pray for a justice and clarity in Israel as its people experience increased government tensions, and while a corruption investigation of their prime minister, Netanyahu takes place.
We pray for purpose and compassion in Pakistan and for those working to change school systems and bring about education reforms, despite the required uphill climb.
We pray also for our own lives, our own communities, our own nations.
Bring your peace where there is despair, your love where there is fear, your grace where there is shame, your joy where there is apathy. Lead us on. Show us where to go.
In your Holy Name, we pray.
Amen.
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