World in Prayer

Sharing in God’s loving compassion for all

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.

Not a Spirit of Fear: A Prayer After the Attack on Salman Rushdie, and for Refugees (August 18, 2022)

Holy One, In these times, with the world news heavily upon us, we reflect upon words from 2 Timothy: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”   (New Living Translation) Ten years ago, speaking in New York (U.S.), Indian-born British-American novelist Salman Rushdie said that […]

O God, Why Are You Silent: Prayers for Ukraine, Rafah, Wildfires, and Pakistan’s Floods (August 11, 2022)

Writers note: As I faced writing these prayers, all that kept resonating through my mind was the hymn, “O God, Why Are You Silent” written by Marty Haugen and found in the Evangelical Lutheran Worship. The words of the first two verses resound in my breaking heart  (it can be sung to any 7676D hymn […]

When Will the Shootings End: A Prayer After Highland Park and Copenhagen (July 7, 2022)

Gracious and loving God, there is not a moment that we do not belong to you. You claim us as your beloved from beginning to end. Reassured and emboldened by this good news, we uplift our petitions and prayers to you this day, knowing nothing separates us from you and your love for us. God […]

Take Heart: A Prayer for Those Who Dread the News, from Church Shootings to Earthquakes (June 23, 2022)

Dearly beloved Children of God, Do you sometimes wake not to prayer, but to dread, fearing what new horror will show up in the news? Afraid even to go to church, after this week’s news of three killed in a mass shooting at an Episcopal church in Alabama, U.S., and two priests shot dead at […]

Eternal God, Love’s Trinity: A Prayer for the Cost of Living, Fossil Fuels, and Hunger in Madagascar (June 9, 2022)

Eternal God. . . Love’s trinity, self perfect, self sustaining; Love which commands, enables and obeys. . . We praise and thank you that you love and care for all people. In your love enable us to hear what you say and obey your command to love one another. In love of one another we […]

Mourning Buffalo and Lifting Our Eyes: Prayers After a Racist Massacre, and for Iraq’s Sandstorms (May 19, 2022)

Loving and ever-present God, we come before you this week bringing all that we are seeking your presence, your love, your wisdom, and your grace. We do not have to look far to see the brokenness and pain in the world, from health struggles to concerns about our finances, many of us bring fears and […]

The Dashing of Hopes: Prayers for Iraq, Failed Reforestation, and Wildfires in New Mexico (May 5, 2022)

Lord, where do we begin?   We want to talk about the dashing of hopes, the failure of inspiration, the death of expectation. Afghanistan has fallen out of our consciousness as Ukraine falls into our attention, and now there is what’s happening in Iraq, as army and separatists clash and thousands flee. Monoculture (rubber trees) has […]

Make Us Instruments of Your Peace: Prayers for Ukraine, Darfur, and Missing Women in Mexico (April 28, 2022)

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. ”  —Prayer of Saint Francis Resurrecting Christ, you turned the world upside down and […]

Nothing Can Separate Us: Prayers for Black History Month, Ukraine, and Cyclone Batsirai (February 10, 2022)

God, in whom we live and move and have our being, there is nothing that can separate us from you and your steadfast love. Out of this love, you created a world of unsurpassed beauty and you called it good. You continue to recreate and repair this world with that same attentive love. Holy One, open […]

Where the Deep Calls to Deep: Prayers for Tonga After the Tsunami, Ukraine, and a Texas Synagogue (January 20, 2022)

Divine Parent, no matter who we are or what we have done, you welcome us home with open arms. We may not believe it, but you deem us worthy of your love and grace. Therefore, we uplift to you our fragmented and imperfect prayers. Beckon us from within so that we may find that place […]