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.

A Prayer at the Turn of the Decade: For Nations at War and Hearts in Despair (January 2, 2020)

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above. James 1:17 Oh Lord, there are many things that concern us and call us to prayer. We open our hearts to you in gratitude and wonder. We pray for those who rage and are quick to anger, for those who seem to be eaten up […]

Hope on the Horizon: Prayers After US Shootings, Amazon Deforestation, and Unrest in Bolivia (November 21, 2019)

Ever-present God, as we come to the end of another liturgical year, we remember and celebrate the present and coming kingship of Christ. We anticipate the coming day when the prophetic words of scripture are fulfilled and we work, diligently, to co-create a world where all people are loved and respected. Yet, we are perplexed […]

Count the Stars: Prayers After Christchurch, the Ethiopia Crash, and the Lagos Collapse (March 14, 2019)

[God] brought [Abram] outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” ~ Genesis 15:5 God of abundance, we know that you are able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine, and yet our […]

Grief, Fear and Strength: Prayers for California Wildfires, Yemen and the Rohingya (November 29, 2018)

Holy One, When what we have is yours and what we receive is a gift from you, we offer up our words of prayer in the knowledge that you are the Word from whom all our prayers flow. We pray with grief for the things that have broken your heart; we pray with joy for […]

Leaves for the Healing of the Nations: Prayers After the Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting (November 1, 2018)

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the […]

At the Foot of the Cross: Prayers for Families and Friends From Kemerovo to Eastern Ghouta (March 29, 2018)

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him. ~ Ps 22:27 Lord, when we think of Mary at the foot of the cross supported by family and friends it is a week for families to cling together. As […]

Cradle Your Children: Prayers for Europe’s Snows, Syria, Parkland, and Ethiopia’s Emergency (March 1, 2018)

Holy One, You are a God of Might and Majesty, Tenderness and Vulnerability. You are the one who casts stars into the heavens and who brings forth the first green shoots from the fertile ground. All of Creation cannot hold your glory; and yet you cradle us in gentle wings of mercy. All this is […]

Amazing Grace: Prayers After Hurricane Irma, Deadly School Fires, and Western Wildfires (September 14, 2017)

[Italicized portions below from John Newton’s hymn Amazing Grace] Amazing grace! How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; Was blind, but now I see. God of grace and sound, we need finding. The world around us is broken by climatic and political chaos, and […]

Like a Tree Planted by the Water: A Prayer Amid Famine in South Sudan and East Africa (March 23, 2017)

Jeremiah 17:8 New International Version (NIV) They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. Our prayers come before […]

Lord, Have Mercy: A Prayer for South Sudan, Kidnapped Children in Ethiopia, and Syria (March 16, 2017)

Lord, have mercy, Christ, have mercy, Here and there and everywhere in between, On you and me and everyone in between, Now and later and upon everything in between. Lord Christ, we need your mercy. The suffering in South Sudan echoes the horrors of civil war, genocide and ethnic cleansing that mock the hope of […]