Today is the 70th anniversary of the atomic bomb dropping on Hiroshima, and three days later over Nagasaki. At a ceremony to mark the anniversary, which included Caroline Kennedy, U.S. Ambassador, Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, said “Seventy years on I want to re-emphasize the necessity of world peace.” The Church of England […]
Prayers for Israel
Israel is held in these prayers chiefly through conflict and its aftermath: rocket fire and airstrikes, hostages and ceasefires, and the grief shared with Palestine and Lebanon. Elections, government tension and corruption inquiries are noted, as are journalists at risk and people who long for an ordinary, secure day.
For God So Loved the World: A Lenten Prayer of Wonder and Hope (March 12, 2015)
World News in Prayer for March 12, 2015 For God so loved the world… Gracious and holy one, God of all creation, God of all people everywhere, it is so easy, as we journey through this season of Lent, to get lost in the wilderness of pain and sorrow we see in the world […]
Enough: A Prayer After the Peshawar School Massacre (December 18, 2014)
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. – John 13:34 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. – Matthew 11:29 I have come into the […]
Stir Up Your Power: An Advent Prayer for Justice, Torture Victims, and the Climate (December 11, 2014)
World in Prayer, Dec. 11th Stir up your power, Lord Christ, and come. With your abundant grace and might, free us from the sin that would obstruct your mercy, that willingly we might bear your redeeming love to all the world. We long for this stirring, O God, as we look around our […]
Black Lives Matter: A Prayer Against Violence and Modern Slavery (December 4, 2014)
Oh. Dear. God. No. Not again. I thought I knew what I was going to write for tonight’s prayers. And then I turned on the computer, and read that in the United States, yet another unarmed Black man had been shot, dead, by a police officer. Jesus. I am speechless, beyond shock. Everything I could […]
God of Grace and God of Mercy: Prayers for Iraq’s Yazidis and for Gaza (August 7, 2014)
God of grace and God of mercy, be among us. So much evil is done in your name, O God. So much that is not favorable in your sight is done in your name. We know that you are love; we know you loathe the ugliness humans create. God of grace and God of mercy, […]
Precious Lord, Lead Them Home: Prayers for Typhoon Rammasun and Gaza (July 17, 2014)
Precious Lord, take my hand, Lead me on, let me stand, I am tired, I am weak, I am worn; Through the storm, through the night, Lead me on to the light, Take my hand, precious Lord, Lead me home. Even as we sing, even as we pray, Precious Lord, our thoughts turn to […]
The Middle East Is Not a Playing Field: A Prayer After the Murder of Four Teenagers (July 10, 2014)
Lord, we love our sports, games, competition. Winners and losers, the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat, we love it all. But Lord, we mix our metaphors, we mistake life for games, we use the language of war for the playing fields. Remind us, God, that the Middle East is not a playing field. […]
We Doubt and We Believe: A Prayer After the Korean Ferry Disaster and the Nigerian Kidnappings (April 24, 2014)
O Lord, we doubt and we believe. Help us to hold both our doubt and our belief lightly so we may be astonished and overjoyed when we see you, wounded and whole, living in our world. We doubt we will see peace: in Syria, in Ukraine, between Israelis and Palestinians, even sometimes within our own […]
Calm Me, Lord: A Prayer for Storm-Battered Britain, the Homs Ceasefire, and the Sochi Olympics (February 13, 2014)
Calm me, Lord Calm me, Lord, as you calmed the storm; Still me, Lord, keep me from harm, Let all the tumult within me cease, enfold me, Lord, in your peace. Text: David Adam What a maelstrom of events is present in the news this week. Torrential unseasonal rain in Indonesia has affected the Pacific […]