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.

He Comes to Us as One Unknown: A Prayer for Refugees, the Sick, and All Who Cry for Justice (April 7, 2016)

He comes to us as One unknown, without a name, as of old, by the lakeside, He came to those men who knew Him not. He speaks to us the same words: ‘Follow thou me!’ and sets us to the tasks which He has to fulfill for our time. –Albert Schweitzer You come to us, […]

We, Easter People, Pray: For Guantanamo, Libya’s Rival Governments, and Pakistan’s Christians (March 31, 2016)

Lord, in the strength of grace With a glad heart and free … Charles Wesley Today, in the grace of being Easter people, we pray for those who are supported by your grace alone in the turmoil and oppression of war, terror, famine, drought, prejudice, bigotry. We pray for all in Guantanamo Bay military prison […]

The Very Stones Would Shout Out: A Palm Sunday Prayer for Syria, South Sudan, and Silenced Voices (March 18, 2016)

Today we begin Holy Week, walking the Via Dolorosa with Jesus of Nazareth…sitting at the table at the Last Supper, watching and waiting in Gethsemane’s garden, seeing with horror and dread the arrest and torture and trials, and finally, weeping at the foot of the cross. But today, Gracious God, we begin with his arrival […]

For Such a Time as This: Prayers After the Chibok Bombings, the Kabul Attack, and Damascus (February 4, 2016)

“Do not think that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to […]

A Weak and Vulnerable Infant: An Advent Prayer for Refugees and Detained Children (December 17, 2015)

Almighty God, we worship you, as you make your way into the world as a weak and vulnerable infant. Prepare us to receive you in our country, in our home, and in our heart. We pray for all those who are weak and vulnerable, and who need help from those around them. As we look […]

There Is Nowhere God Is Not: Prayers After the Sinai Plane Crash and the Afghanistan Earthquake (November 5, 2015)

God of love, God of inclusion, God of justice and peace, we come to you with hearts heavy with the things that are happening in our world over which we have no control. Lack of control is scary, feels threatening. And yet, even in the midst of our confusion and frustration, there is a truth […]

They Will Soar on Wings Like Eagles: A Prayer of Confession for a World Weary of Violence (October 15, 2015)

WORLD NEWS IN PRAYER THURSDAY, October 15 2015 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” –Isaiah 40:31 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and […]

Let My People Go: A Prayer Naming the Pharaohs That Drive Refugees From Home (September 10, 2015)

Go down, Moses, way down in Egypt land. Tell all Pharaohs to, “let My people go.” Oh God, our God, and God of every suffering refugee, we join in prayer to ask for the wisdom and the courage to name the pharaohs that make life intolerable for so many people in the world. We recognize that: […]

Out of the Darkness We Cry to You: Prayers for Palmyra, Lahore, and Western Wildfires (August 27, 2015)

(Thanks to the Evangelical Lutheran Church for some of these prayer petitions.) Out of the darkness we cry to you, O God. Enable us to find in Christ the faith to trust in your care even in the midst of pain. Assure us that we do not walk alone through the valley of the shadow, […]

Today the World Is Full of Glory: A Prayer on the 70th Anniversary of Hiroshima (August 6, 2015)

Today is the 70th anniversary of the atomic bomb dropping on Hiroshima, and three days later over Nagasaki. At a ceremony to mark the anniversary, which included Caroline Kennedy, U.S. Ambassador, Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, said “Seventy years on I want to re-emphasize the necessity of world peace.” The Church of England […]