May these prayers and meditations be received by You, O Lord. Take them and bind them to your will.
This is the time of Diwali or Deepawali, a Hindu festival of lights celebrated by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and some Buddhists in the northern hemisphere in the fall. We meditate on the spiritual nature of the victory of light over darkness, of good over evil, and of knowledge over ignorance. We set our prayers out like clay lamps in a row.
Shine your light.
We pray for the more than 650 million living women and girls who, according to UNICEF, were married as children. We are shocked and angry that, within the next decade, as many as 110 million more are expected to be married before they turn 18 – often married into domestic violence, see their schooling halted, risk death during childbirth and bear infants who have an increased risk of dying before their first month of life. Lord have mercy. We pray especially for Chad, Central African Republic and Niger, who lead the world in these human rights violations.
Shine your light.
We pray for the G20 leaders who met this week on economics in Rome, Italy. Bring Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union to understand that Your Kin-dom demands generosity, decries stealing of our children’s futures and the injustices of extraction and greed.
Shine your light.
Help us to pause and love you, God. Love you and not our stuff, our opinions, positions, putting the wealth and position of nations at play over you. We pray as the world is in crisis. We meditate on this, and then it feels too much and we want to drop everything and bury our heads, curl up and shut our eyes. We try to stay strong in the classroom, in the pew or hybrid worship, and everywhere in our communities as we celebrate Halloween, All Saints, All Souls and Día de los Muertos. We walk many paths.
Shine your light.
“People Planet Prosperity,” “Greenwashing,” “Guardians of the Forest,” “Nationally-determined Contributions” – let these unfamiliar concepts help guide our decisions on climate change. O Lord, we ask that the diligent work of many years and voices, the climate science that is being reckoned with, along with the traditional teachings of our indigenous peoples be heard as the United Nations Climate Change Summit, being held in Glasgow, Scotland (UK), creates a global stage. We pray for the 190 world leaders, the thousands of negotiators, government representatives, business leaders and citizens as they congregate. Guide us, as leaders from Russia and China are visibly absent. Bring knowledge and right action to Brazil, China, Colombia, Congo, Indonesia, Russia and the United States – the nations with the largest and most massive forests. Nature, trees, habitat, water conservation and carbon storage – what an amazing creation. We feel an urgency. We are mortal. We need help. Floods and fires, crop failure, habitat destruction and pollution are a long-running reality. What will be our children’s children’s future? How can we serve the least? Such big tasks will take seemingly forever! Perhaps that is what your creation demands. What stewardship in your kin-dom requires. Lead us, O Lord.
Shine your light.
In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
Thank you for bringing these prayers needs to my attention. As the people of the world, incudinging, many believers become increasingly self centered, I praise God because these prayers needs and requests help me focus on the needs around the world. There is so much suffering in the world that it appears there are no changes taking place. But prayer changes things. I appreciate your ministry because it gives me a burden and focus for the needs of the world locally and internationally. May God continue to strengthen and bless the works of your hands. Thank you for the worldview and prayers you continually share weekly.