Source of love and life, there are so many in need of your tender loving care. We uplift to you in prayer all who need your healing embrace in the fragile and hurting world this day.
Christ, you said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” This peace is one deeply rooted in the love of God, neighbor, and self. It is lived in action and in word. We pray for the world leaders who are gathering for the United Nations General Assembly for the first time since the start of the pandemic. As the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in his opening remarks, “Our world has never been more threatened or more divided…we face the greatest cascade of crises in our lifetimes.” Let us remember that you encompass all whenever we try to build walls or create divisions between one another.
The global COVID pandemic continues to unveil sharp inequities between and within nations. Governments have been discredited and citizens disillusioned. May the decisions of our world leaders be informed by your divine wisdom. Fill them with humility and compassion, not fear and greed. Help them to see our interconnectedness and interdependence. We pray for all making difficult decisions during this weary and uncertain time. Be with those who await decisions from those in leadership about the days and years to come.
Lord, it can be too much to take in, too much to comprehend, too much to understand at times. Let us not become immobilized. May we use the gifts you have given us– hearts to reach out, voices to call out, and hands to stretch out. You say, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Comfort all who are sick, caregiving, overwhelmed, and grief-stricken this day. May they feel the consolation of your embrace.
Creator God, your creation continues to cry out from the destruction and devastation brought about by the climate crisis. We pray for your children on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands whose lives have been upended because the Cumbre Vieja volcano has been erupting for days. The volcanic activity has blanked towns in ash and forced thousands to evacuate their homes. We pray for your children in southern Australia where a magnitude 5.9 earthquake recently hit, leaving buildings damaged and forcing hospitals to evacuate. Help us to right our relationship with creation so that we may care for the world around us just as you care for us. Let us find remnants that may become sources of healing and repair in the midst of the desolation.
Ruler of all the nations, we long for the day when swords will be beaten into plowshares. Descend upon the many corners of this world in need of your saving love and abiding peace. We pray for your children in Myanmar near the Indian border who have had to flee their homes because of increased fighting between the military and militia forces opposed to the military coup. We pray for all whose daily lives are dictated by survival amid war and terror. We pray for your children in Afghanistan where the Taliban have refused to include women in their cabinet. We pray for all who are oppressed and targeted because of their gender.
Father and mother of us all, you created each of us in your image. You call us to care for the vulnerable in our midst, to welcome the stranger, and to look out for our neighbors. We pray for your children gathered at the Texan border seeking entrance into the United States, including many Haitians affected by last month’s earthquake. We are horror-stricken by the photos we have seen of people being rounded up like cattle. Lord, in your mercy. Let us hold accountable those who are responsible for this sinful transgression. Let us repent for all the ways we fail to see you in one another. May all who are fleeing violence and trauma find people and communities around them and places inside of them that nurture, strengthen, and free them.
Holy One, Paul once wrote that your divine love is the kind of love that can “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” Let us hold fast to this piece of Good News. May it be our beacon of light as we find our way through life.
Amen
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