Prayers for Ethiopia

Conflict in Tigray and later in other regions runs through these prayers for Ethiopia, with civilians displaced, a state of emergency, and tension with Eritrea. Drought, locust swarms, and widespread food insecurity are held alongside thanksgiving for women in law, medicine, and community work.

When I Am Afraid: Prayers for Haiti’s Earthquake, Wildfires in France, and Afghanistan (August 19, 2021)

Be gracious to me, O God, for people trample on me; all day long foes oppress me; my enemies trample on me all day long, for many fight against me. O Most High, when I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I am […]

Code Red for Humanity: Prayers for Wildfires, Famine in Tigray and Madagascar, and Afghanistan (August 12, 2021)

Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name. Lord, Creator of the world, the time has gone when we can glibly say we are sorry for the way we treat the beautiful world you have given us. Following the Climate change report, ‘Code Red for Humanity’ of 9th August 2021, and the Water […]

An Alphabet of Prayer: From Aged Adults to Zoom Fatigue in a Pandemic Year (August 5, 2021)

Sustaining God, we offer an alphabetical litany to You. Please shine Your light on: Aged adults who feel isolated in a pandemic… Birthing persons… Cancelations… Delta and other variants of COVID-19 which are highly transmissible and more virulent than the original… Ethiopia, where a civil war rages… Food pantries… Grocery store employees and all other […]

Bread of Life: Prayers for Simone Biles, Climate Disasters, and Conflict in Tigray (July 29, 2021)

O Christ, you once said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35) Today we yearn for your abundant life. We hunger for the bread of heaven to sustain us on our journey to find you. Reveal yourself […]

Wake the Sleepers: Prayers for Canada’s Unmarked Graves, Tigray, and a Building Collapse (June 24, 2021)

Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping; that awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep we may rest in peace. –Concluding Prayer for Compline, from The Book of Common Prayer “When evening had come, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd behind, […]

Lord, What Is Happening: Prayers for India’s Pandemic, Global Famine, and Mount Meron (May 6, 2021)

Lord, we thought the human world had turned a corner in the pandemic, so we watch and listen with despair at the news from India and pray and hope the same will not happen in Papua New Guinea. Lord, mighty and marvelous, what is happening? We name especially Yemen, Haiti, Syria, South Sudan and Tigray, […]

Father Earth and Mother Sky: Prayers for Indianapolis, Tigray, and India’s Oxygen Crisis (April 29, 2021)

Oh God, Our Father Earth and Mother Earth, Help us to center our hearts, our thoughts, our yearnings, to let go of past wrongs and uncertain futures, to let the air out and take a simple breath in – here in the present of your eternal time. We acknowledge the lands of our ancestors. We […]

Lessons from Cranes and Geese: El Salvador’s Election, Afghanistan, and Migrants (March 4, 2021)

As most of you know, World in Prayer is written by a team whose members take turns writing the prayers. And I, who am writing this week – I ran out of words a long time ago. Trapped in what seemed like near-isolation by the pandemic; anguished by its resulting ever-growing number of deaths and […]

They Shall Mount Up with Wings Like Eagles: Prayers for Myanmar’s Coup and India’s Farmers (February 4, 2021)

“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall […]

Come Now, O Prince of Peace: Advent Prayers for Ethiopia, Nigeria, and New Zealand (December 17, 2020)

Come now, O Prince of Peace, make us one body. Come, O Lord Jesus, reconcile your people. – Geonyong Lee (Tune: OSOSO) With heavy hearts, we come to you during this time of waiting, this time of Advent as we prepare for the coming of the One who is God’s incarnated Love. Only this year, […]