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.

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 […]

Home by Another Road: A New Year Prayer for a World Still Broken After Christmas (January 2, 2014)

World in Prayer This Week – January 2, 2014 “And having been warned in dream not to return to Herod, they [the Wise Ones] left for their own country by another road.” Matthew 2:12 (NRSV) God of dreams and desires, in this sacred season you reach to the world in rhythms beyond the rational. An […]

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel: An Advent Prayer to Set the Captives Free (December 19, 2013)

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. We are still waiting for you. We are waiting for the Prince of Peace. We are waiting for the Wisdom from on high. We are waiting for the King of all nations. O come and set the captives free. Free those who are captive to violence. The people of Syria, […]