Prayers for Afghanistan

Afghanistan is carried here through decades of war and its aftermath, through hunger, avalanches, earthquakes and floods, and through the education and rights of women and girls. Journalists, aid workers and teachers appear often, and thanksgiving is offered for those who keep schools and newsrooms going in hard conditions.

God of Tender Souls Clinging: Prayers for the Kerala Floods, Besieged Ghazni, and Wildfires (August 23, 2018)

God of compassion God of green earth and snow God of darkness And illumination God of new things And of things torn apart God of waters and maker of dry land God of tender souls clinging God in this moment and across all sunrises and the universe Help us to understand our place in this […]

One of Those Days When It Is Hard to Pray: For Kabul, the Genoa Bridge and the Kerala Floods (August 16, 2018)

God, today is one of those days when it is hard to pray. One of the days when life feels so overwhelming that shutting down might seem like the best option. And on days like today, we have this community of prayer that lifts us up. Right now, we pray for each one reading this […]

A Deep Thirst: Prayers for Drought, Desertification and Flooding Around the World (June 14, 2018)

The United Nations’ World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is observed every year on June 17. This year’s observance will be hosted in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the Lord will answer them, I the God […]

God Hears Amen Wherever We Are: A Prayer for Places of Hope, War and Unrest (May 24, 2018)

“God hears ‘amen’ wherever we are.” –Radney M. Foster We come to you, O Lord, from many places, joining our voices to praise you and to ask for your intercession. We know You hear us regardless of where we are physically. • In places where we hope peace is possible: between North and South Korea, […]

There Is a Balm in Gilead: Prayers After the Kabul Bombings and the Nigeria Mosque Attack (May 3, 2018)

There is a balm in Gilead To make the wounded whole; There is a balm in Gilead To heal the sin-sick soul. (African American spiritual) O God, when our hearts are breaking, when our souls are wounded, to whom else shall we turn? Where else shall we bring our prayers, our concerns, our woundedness, our confusion, […]

Be Still and Know: A Prayer Amid Gunfire, Bombings, and the Cries of Refugees (February 22, 2018)

“Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10) O God, O God, my God, our world is full of anything but stillness. There is no silence to be found, I fear; no quiet about. We hear of your “still small voice”, we know You have taught that there is virtue in silence, we […]

Come Fill Us With Your Light: Prayers for Eastern Ghouta, Jalalabad, and the Gambia (January 25, 2018)

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever. ~ Psalm 111:10 …we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. ~ 1 Corinthians 8:1 …anyone who loves God is known by him. ~ 1 […]

May We Love Urgently: Prayers for Puerto Rico, the Rohingya, Wildfires, and Mogadishu (October 19, 2017)

Dear Lord, Your people in Puerto Rico and across the Caribbean have looked up into rain flooded skies and out onto destroyed homelands, waiting for water, food, shelter and the provision of medical care. Open the hearts of decision makers to release funds to continue the rescue, to bring relief and stability. Smooth the communications […]

Lead Us From Darkness to Light: A Prayer for Peace 72 Years After Hiroshima and Nagasaki (August 10, 2017)

Dear God Today we pray for peace. We remember those who perished with the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan 72 years ago this week. The monuments and memorials and parks in these cities and other cities and lands having suffered holocausts remind us that our prayers are mighty and necessary. Help us to […]

Sighs Too Deep for Words: Prayers for a World of Fires, Floods, Famine, and War (July 27, 2017)

The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple…. My eyes shed streams of tears because your law is not kept. Ps 119: 130, 136 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs […]