World in Prayer

Sharing in God’s loving compassion for all

Prayers for Palestine

Palestine is held in these prayers through war and displacement, hunger in Gaza, shelter and sanitation that fail in winter, and aid that does not arrive. Recognition and statehood come up repeatedly, as do ceasefires made and broken. Through all of it the prayers ask for a peace that lasts and for trust between neighbors.

The Very Stones Would Shout Out: A Palm Sunday Prayer for Syria, South Sudan, and Silenced Voices (March 18, 2016)

Today we begin Holy Week, walking the Via Dolorosa with Jesus of Nazareth…sitting at the table at the Last Supper, watching and waiting in Gethsemane’s garden, seeing with horror and dread the arrest and torture and trials, and finally, weeping at the foot of the cross. But today, Gracious God, we begin with his arrival […]

Lead Us Not into Temptation: Prayers for Syria, Mexico’s Prison Riot, and Taiwan’s Earthquake (February 11, 2016)

Our Father in heaven, lead us not into temptation. Help us to recognize the temptations that surround us, the subtle snares that, on their face, seem good: The temptation to use violence and force to achieve peace and gentleness; The temptation to see our perspective as truth and others as heresy; The temptation to believe […]

Do Not Be Afraid: A Prayer After the Paris Attacks, for Refugees and a Fearful World (November 19, 2015)

Violence is what happens when we don’t know what else to do with our suffering. – Parker Palmer Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. – Hebrews 13:2 “Do not be afraid,” the messenger from God said to Mary. “Do not be afraid,” the messenger […]

We Live in the In-Between Times: An Easter Prayer After Garissa and for a Thirsty Planet (April 3, 2015)

It is the in-between time. At my church, we have just ended the Maundy Thursday service, remembered Jesus’ institution of the first Eucharist, been commanded to love as he loves us, washed one another’s feet, then stripped the altar. Tonight, Jesus will spend in agonizing prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, and we, his disciples, will try […]

That We May All Be One: A Prayer for Christian Unity and for Paris (January 15, 2015)

Throughout the world, this Sunday marks the beginning of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, and so together we pray for the church of Christ, that we may all be one. Litany of Thanksgiving Because I love you, O my people, I was born in Bethlehem. They called me Emmanuel, for I am God […]

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 […]

So Many Treasures Are Hidden: Prayers After MH17 and the Taiwan Plane Crash (July 24, 2014)

So many treasures are hidden Lord: When we gave thanks along with the mother whose 2 sons were saved by the actions of a stranger, Reis Leming, in East Anglia in 1953, we were not to know that one would became a professor in Cambridge, England; the other a professor in MIT.   Lord, we […]

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 […]