“Prayer is nothing else than a sense of God’s presence.” ~ Brother Laurence (lay brother, Paris, France 1614-1691) “Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God.” ~ Mother Theresa of Calcutta (1910-1997) “We have to pray with our eyes on God and not on the difficulties.” ~ Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) “I (Jesus) tell you, […]
Prayers for Lebanon
Bombings, airstrikes, and ceasefires brokered and broken run through the prayers for Lebanon, together with the Beirut port explosion of 2020 and its long recovery. Syrian refugee families, protest over corruption and economic crisis, wildfires, and cholera are named, as is a restaurant that feeds the hungry daily.
Gather Us In: Prayers for Israel and Lebanon, Haiti’s Elections and Storm Boris (September 19, 2024)
“How do you choose which news to include in the prayers?” That’s a common question those of us who take turns writing the weekly prayers get asked. Sometimes, it’s more pointed: “Why did you mention this, but not that?” But there’s neither magic nor malice involved – we are all too human. We gather news, from a […]
Lord, Have Mercy: Prayers After the Southport Killings and for Sudan’s Refugees (August 1, 2024)
O God of all peoples. Hear these prayers as bits and pieces of the news this week are shared. You know all sorrows and joys. It seems like a heavy and fearful time right now. Shine your light on these times bringing clarity and justice, peace and recovery. Renew our hearts and minds. Bring your […]
Christ Is Our Peace: A Prayer for UN Peacekeepers from Kosovo to South Sudan (May 30, 2024)
This week, the world community recognized the May 30 International Day of United Nations (UN) Peacekeepers. For 76 years, UN peacekeepers have worked to save and change lives in the world’s most fragile political and security situations. Since 1948, more than two million uniformed and civilian personnel have helped countries to transition from war to […]
The Fasting That I Wish: A Lenten Prayer for Trafficking Victims and the Hungry of Gaza (February 15, 2024)
This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; Setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own. The United States […]
Those Who Tell Our Stories: A Prayer for Journalists Killed in Gaza and the Starving Behind the Headlines (February 1, 2024)
Dear Lord, This prayer arises during a foggy day from a home on a quiet residential street. Somewhere else it is dark at night and people pray. and the smoke and bombs seem to crush any ability to even think and survival is everything. It feels like both forgiveness and mercy are needed in the […]
This Blessing Calls You Home: A Christmas Blessing and Prayer for Every Nation on Earth (December 22, 2022)
A CHRISTMAS BLESSING by Christine Valters Paintner online Abbess at AbbeyoftheArts.com Reproduced with permission This blessing dances at the doorway of light and dark, knows both as sacred: fertile womb space, miracle of blooming. This blessing breathes through those moments of labor when you too birth the holy into this fragile, luminous, hurting world as Mary […]
Lord of the Dance: After the Seoul Crowd Crush and Uganda’s Ebola Outbreak (November 3, 2022)
Sandhill cranes dancing at sunset at Staten Island Rd. Preserve, Northern California. Photo art by a member of the World in Prayer team. Dance, then, wherever you may be,I am the Lord of the Dance, said he,And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be,And I’ll lead you all in the Dance, said he. –Sydney […]
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 […]
Creator of Us All: Indigenous Peoples Day Prayers for Ethiopia and California’s Sequoias (October 14, 2021)
“Will you teach your children what we have taught our children? That the earth is our mother? What befalls the earth befalls all the sons of the earth. This we know: the earth does not belong to humankind, humans belong to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Humanity […]