Prayers for Mexico

Mexico appears in these prayers through earthquakes, landslides and storms, and through violence, disappearances and the search for missing people. Migration is a constant theme, with families crossing and waiting at the northern border. Elections, water and the arts are held here too, with thanks for ordinary kindness along the way.

All People Are Your People: A World Refugee Day Prayer for Families at the Border and Hungary’s Asylum Laws (June 21, 2018)

World Refugee Day was observed on June 20. Let us remember that a person’s dignity, worth, or humanity does not depend on their citizenship. May we be filled with the deep understanding that Jesus calls us to welcome and love the stranger. Let us pray: God of compassion, we are torn apart by the cruelty […]

A Deep Thirst: Prayers for Drought, Desertification and Flooding Around the World (June 14, 2018)

The United Nations’ World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is observed every year on June 17. This year’s observance will be hosted in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the Lord will answer them, I the God […]

Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying: For Volcanoes, Separated Families and Contested Elections (June 7, 2018)

(The hymn used in these prayers is “Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying” by Ken Medema) Lord, listen to your children praying, Lord, send your Spirit in this place; Lord, listen to your children praying, Send us love, send us pow’r, send us grace. Lord God, open our eyes to the power and promise of […]

God Hears Amen Wherever We Are: A Prayer for Places of Hope, War and Unrest (May 24, 2018)

“God hears ‘amen’ wherever we are.” –Radney M. Foster We come to you, O Lord, from many places, joining our voices to praise you and to ask for your intercession. We know You hear us regardless of where we are physically. • In places where we hope peace is possible: between North and South Korea, […]

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 Liturgy of the Hours: Prayers After the Iran Earthquake and the Rancho Tehama School Shooting (November 16, 2017)

Note: The writer this week is using the framework of the Liturgy of the Hours (Opus Dei i.e. Work of God) so sanctifying the day with prayer. The one who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns deep darkness into the morning, and darkens the day into night, who calls for the waters of […]

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 […]

Who Is My Neighbor: A Sabbath Prayer for Kurdistan, Catalonia, Bali, and Vanuatu (September 28, 2017)

Ex 31:16 “The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant.”(NIV) Creator God, you give us every good and perfect gift. We celebrate the equinox so easily, the turning of the world and change of seasons, the seedtime and the harvest; our unique place in the […]

Jesus Wept: A Prayer From the Earthquake Ruins of Mexico and the Storm-Battered Caribbean (September 21, 2017)

“Jesus Wept” Oh, Lord… Oh, Lord. Every bone in our body, every tear in our eye, every drop of blood in our heart, cries to You. We are not fools, O Lord. We are certain that others despaired in their time. But this is our time, O Lord. So hear, and forgive, the desperation of […]

Sighs Too Deep for Words: Prayers for a World of Fires, Floods, Famine, and War (July 27, 2017)

The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple…. My eyes shed streams of tears because your law is not kept. Ps 119: 130, 136 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs […]