World in Prayer

Sharing in God’s loving compassion for all

Prayers for Iran

Prayers naming Iran hold nuclear negotiations and the tension around them, strikes and fragile ceasefires, and talks that begin and stall. Protest is a recurring theme, particularly the treatment of women and of schoolgirls, along with those imprisoned or censored. Journalists and activists who speak at real cost are honored.

We Long to Be Held: A Prayer After the US Capitol Attack and Uganda’s Election (January 14, 2021)

Dear God, Today we long to be held.  We long to be held, not by the hateful actions we see on our televisions.  Not by a virus that continually kills thousands upon thousands.  Not by our divisions and the things which cause us to break apart.  We long to be held by your unbreakable, unshakeable, […]

Though I May Speak: Prayers for a Walled World, Famine, and the Storming of the US Capitol (January 7, 2021)

Editor’s note:  World In Prayer needs a few more writers and editors!  Our team consists of 12-15 volunteers, from several different countries and continents. Each week, one person writes the prayers in response to international news. A second person then edits and posts the prayers online.  Because we rotate who writes and edits, you would end up serving […]

Be Strong and Courageous: Prayers for Nigeria’s Protests and Western Wildfires (October 22, 2020)

“I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 Dear God, Our world is changing in ways that we never imagined.  We are in need of your unwavering love. We live in a world which holds so […]

Let Me Hear of Your Steadfast Love: Prayers for Iowa’s Tornadoes and the Mauritius Oil Spill (August 20, 2020)

“Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning, for in you I put my trust. Teach me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.” Psalm 143:8 Dearest creator of us all, It is to you that we lift our souls and our very beings.  As we draw […]

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 […]

Like Grasses Showing Tender Faces: A Prayer as the Pandemic Circles the Globe (March 12, 2020)

Every little thing is sent for something, and in that thing there should be happiness and the power to make happy. Like the grasses showing tender faces to each other, thus we should do, for this was the wish of the Grandfathers of the World.   Black Elk, (1863-1950) Oh God, we read these words […]

One of Those Sleepless Nights: A Prayer for a World That Will Not Let Us Rest (January 16, 2020)

Dear Friends in Prayer, Did you ever have one of those sleepless nights? When, after three hours of perfectly wonderful, refreshing sleep, you are suddenly awake, wide awake, for no apparent reason? And when, despite watching a couple of shows on your Kindle Fire (or whatever you resort to during wakeful hours), your mind is […]

A Prayer in a Fearful World: Australia’s Fires, Puerto Rico’s Earthquake, and a Crash in Iran (January 9, 2020)

Dear God, While we know you hold onto us, and we know that you are there during every moment of our lives, we also live with so much fear. Fear for the planet, fear for all people around the world, fear for our friends and family, fear for the places we live, and fear for […]

Ask the Animals and They Will Teach You: A Prayer for a Dying Glacier and Children in Detention (August 22, 2019)

But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? […]

The World Is About to Turn: Prayers for Hong Kong, Moscow Arrests, and Separated Families (August 1, 2019)

My soul cries out with a joyful shout that the God of my heart is great, and my spirit sings of the wondrous things that you bring to the ones who wait. You fixed your sight on your servant’s plight, and my weakness you did not spurn, so from east to west shall my name […]