Prayers for India

The prayers that name India range widely: heatwaves and floods, the pandemic years, elections and communal tension, the treatment of women and of Dalit and tribal communities, and the safety of workers. Thanksgivings appear too, for rescues, tree planting and voices calling for interfaith unity.

God of Peace, Make Us Whole: Advent Prayers for Tigray, Workers, and World AIDS Day (December 3, 2020)

In this second week of Advent, we light the candle of peace. What does it mean for us to seek God’s peace? Is peace a lack of conflict, or is it more? The word so often used for peace in the Bible can also be translated as wholeness. May we seek God’s wholeness this week. […]

A Different Kind of King: A Christ the King Prayer for Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and Tigray (November 19, 2020)

In 1925, Pope Pius XI established the Feast of Christ the King, also known as Christ the King Sunday, as a corrective to a major worldwide shift toward nationalism. This feast day is included in the Revised Common Lectionary and is celebrated by most mainline Protestant denominational groups. O Christ, what can it mean for […]

Engraved Upon My Palms: Hyderabad’s Floods, Kilimanjaro’s Fire, and the Reef (October 15, 2020)

1 Thessalonians 5: 1 – 3 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they say, ‘There is peace and security’, then […]

O God, Why Are You Silent: Nagorno-Karabakh, Rwanda, and a Million COVID Deaths (October 1, 2020)

O God, why are you silent? I cannot hear your voice; the proud and strong and violent all claim you and rejoice; you promised you would hold me with tenderness and care. Draw near, O Love, enfold me, and ease the pain I bear. Marty Haugen/ Tune: Herzlich mich verlangen […]

God of Our Ancestors: A Prayer as US COVID Deaths Pass 200,000 and Wildfires Burn (September 24, 2020)

God of Our Ancestors, Since before we were born, you have knit your people into a great reimagining of purpose and life. You call us by your mercy and claim us with your truth. Even in these days of protest and pandemic, show us what it means that you are the Creator, Christ, and Comforter. […]

Abide with Us: Prayers for Beirut, Belarus, and the Last Arctic Ice Shelf (August 13, 2020)

Holy Creator, You are at our Beginning and our Ending, the one who wakes us in the morning and settles us to sleep at night. When we move through the fog of uncertainty, bring a piercing light of a clarity, even if just for a moment. When we want to plop down in heaps of […]

Help Us to Hear These Voices: Prayers for Housekeepers, Child Soldiers, and Beirut (August 6, 2020)

Dear Lord, help us to hear these voices. I pray today that my knees and back hold up. I pray that my mom and children are ok in our two-bedroom apartment while I work at a hotel and clean 15 rooms each day. I pray that my paycheck will be enough, that my car holds […]

We Cannot Go Back to Normal: A Prayer on Inequality, Hong Kong, and Rising Hate Crimes (July 30, 2020)

I never anticipated that now, in the midst of an abundant summer following a beautiful spring, we would still be living out a winter spirituality. But the Covid-19 Pandemic has brought this upon us. But…We’re All in This Together, Right?….except…. Lowering of pollution that first month—the air so crisp and clear and breathable. Everything stood […]

Your Glory Fills the Skies: Prayers for Yemen, Locust Swarms, and Monsoon Floods (July 23, 2020)

Ever-creating God, Your glory fills the skies, from the transient sparkle of the fleeting meteor to the unexpected spectacle of Comet Neowise; your glory fills the earth from mountain height to ocean depth. We praise you. As difficult as it is to find words to express how much your glory thrills and excites us it […]

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 […]