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 […]
Prayers for Colombia
Internal conflict driven by drug cartels is the steady concern here, joined by an earthquake, drought across South America, and extreme weather shared with neighboring countries. These prayers also name those building a culture of peace among new generations, and the rainforest Colombia helps to keep.
Creator of the Star-Fields: Prayers for Burkina Faso, Afghanistan, and Israel and Palestine (June 10, 2021)
Creator of the star-fields, During this new moon week, when the sky is the deepest depth of dark, the canopy of stars are especially visible in their brilliance. Pin-pricks of light on the velvet drape of night. We can see an unnameable number of stars, and there are many more we cannot see with the […]
Give Grace to Your Servants: A Prayer of Grief for a World Apart (July 16, 2020)
This week’s prayer contains excerpts from The [Episcopal] Book of Common Prayer. Lord God, today we gather in Your name, though most of us not in the indoor spaces that have come to symbolize gathering spaces for those seeking truth, justice, and faith. Many of us struggle to feel the sacred or even simple connection […]
Awaken in Us Compassion: Prayers for Midwest Floods, Cyclone Fani, and Ebola Health Workers (May 9, 2019)
Oh God, you who are always listening to us; you who hear the bird singing in the topmost branch against the blue, blue sky; you who know of the sobbing deep in the rubble after a bombing or the utterings of the newly-born. You, who are the heart of compassion, who gave your son Jesus […]
Bless Our Mouths With Kindness: Prayers for Cyclone Idai, Venezuelans on the Move, and Rwanda (April 11, 2019)
God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, […]
A Litany of Blessings: After the Las Vegas Shooting, for Catalonia, the Kurds, and Bali (October 5, 2017)
A note from the writer of this week’s prayers: I really wrestled with what prayers to write today. Part of me – a LARGE part – wanted to rage at God: “If Jesus’ crucifixion, death and resurrection was supposed to end the power of evil and sin, your experiment has failed. Utterly. It’s time 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 […]
Amen, May It Be So: Prayers for Venezuela’s Protests and Arkansas Executions (April 27, 2017)
Amen. Yes. So be it. It will certainly be like this. May it be so. This is the truth. On this we can depend. Amen! Compassionate and loving God, as we watch events unfold across our world, our emotions often cannot be translated into words. So we call out to You with a word You […]
May Your Mind Be in Us: Prayers After the Mocoa Landslide, Peru’s Floods, and Syria’s Gas Attack (April 6, 2017)
The Scottish theologian, William Barclay, suggested using ‘the mind of God’ instead of ‘the Word’ for Jesus. And so John 1:1, 2-5, 14 reads In the beginning was the mind of God,… 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was […]
Not One Sparrow Forgotten: Prayers for Famine in Yemen, Cyclone Debbie, and Wildlife (March 30, 2017)
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. But even the hairs of your head are all counted. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. Luke 12:6-7 In the glory of the changing seasons; in the beauty of the […]