Prayers for Japan

Natural disaster shapes much of what has been prayed for Japan: earthquakes and tsunami, volcanic eruptions, typhoons, blizzards, and heatwaves, with the long aftermath of Fukushima returning more than once. Prayers also mark violence against disabled people, rescues at sea, and steps toward equal marriage.

Be Gentle With Us: Prayers for the Kurds, Typhoon Hagibis, and Lebanon’s Wildfires (October 17, 2019)

Be gentle with us, O Lover of Souls. Be gentle with us, for surely in this fractured and fracturing world, that above all is what we need: To (re)learn to be gentle with ourselves. To be gentle with each other. To be gentle with our planet. Be gentle with those – especially with those – […]

Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child: Prayers for Kashmir, Kenya, and Hong Kong (September 12, 2019)

Sometimes I feel like a motherless child, Sometimes I feel like a motherless child, Sometimes I feel like a motherless child, A long way from home. – African-American spiritual Mother-Father God, we come to you when we feel lost. We come to you when we feel discouraged. We come to you when our strength […]

I Am About to Do a New Thing: A Prayer in a Time of Fear and Change (April 4, 2019)

“Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing…” ~ Isaiah 43: 18 – 19a. (NIV) “For now my place is in him, and I am not dependent upon any of the self-achieved righteousness of the Law. God has given me that genuine righteousness […]

Do Not Fear: Prayers for Refugees on Lesbos, a Typhoon in Japan and Brazil’s Museum Fire (September 6, 2018)

Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand. For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Do not fear, I […]

Come Away and Rest: Prayers for Swedish Wildfires, South African Miners and Peace in the Holy Land (July 19, 2018)

Jesus said to the disciples, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they […]

Shalom Be With You: Prayers for Douma, Parkland and the Muenster Attack (April 12, 2018)

[Jesus] stood among them and said to them, ‘Shalom be with you.’ ~ Luke 24:36 God of creation and creativity, you’ve given us the gift of language and communication so that we might speak of and learn about you, however feeble our understanding might be. We often take the gift of words for granted, forgetting […]

Be Thou My Vision: Prayers for the Nepal Plane Crash, the Skripal Poisoning, and Parkland Walkouts (March 15, 2018)

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart; Naught be all else to me, save that thou art: Thou my best thought both by day and by night, Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light. (Irish Traditional, Tune SLANE) O Light of the World, we stumble around in the darkness of this world which […]

Come Fill Us With Your Light: Prayers for Eastern Ghouta, Jalalabad, and the Gambia (January 25, 2018)

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever. ~ Psalm 111:10 …we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. ~ 1 Corinthians 8:1 …anyone who loves God is known by him. ~ 1 […]

A Reformation Litany at 500 Years: Prayers for Disaster Recovery, Iceland’s Forests, and Raqqa (October 26, 2017)

A 500th Anniversary Reformation Litany (Adapted from the writings of Lutheran reformers) Note: 31 October 2017 marks 500 years since the monk and priest Martin Luther nailed a series of statements calling for reform in the Catholic church to the door of the city church in Wittenberg, Germany. This action unwittingly set off the German […]

Lead Us From Darkness to Light: A Prayer for Peace 72 Years After Hiroshima and Nagasaki (August 10, 2017)

Dear God Today we pray for peace. We remember those who perished with the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan 72 years ago this week. The monuments and memorials and parks in these cities and other cities and lands having suffered holocausts remind us that our prayers are mighty and necessary. Help us to […]