Prayers for Russia

War with Ukraine dominates what has been prayed here for Russia, together with ceasefire talks, sanctions and strained relations with neighboring countries. Other prayers hold protesters and journalists at risk, nuclear tension, wildfires in Siberia, and the care of creation in the far north.

Come Now, O Prince of Peace: A Prayer as Russia Invades Ukraine (February 24, 2022)

As this week, fraught with so many cares and concerns, has unfolded, I have found myself singing this Advent hymn over and over again. And even though it is not the Advent season, this world is certainly in a period of waiting and watching and wondering. And so we sing together: Come now, O Prince […]

We Breathe Your Peace: A Prayer at the Russia Ukraine Border and for Petropolis (February 17, 2022)

Oh God, you lean into us. We lean into you. A flow of relationship that has no end. We are grateful. We are invited to pray without ceasing. This is not a burden but a freeing gift, an invitation to stay present to our constant dance with you. As we pray in each moment our […]

Nothing Can Separate Us: Prayers for Black History Month, Ukraine, and Cyclone Batsirai (February 10, 2022)

God, in whom we live and move and have our being, there is nothing that can separate us from you and your steadfast love. Out of this love, you created a world of unsurpassed beauty and you called it good. You continue to recreate and repair this world with that same attentive love. Holy One, open […]

Where the Deep Calls to Deep: Prayers for Tonga After the Tsunami, Ukraine, and a Texas Synagogue (January 20, 2022)

Divine Parent, no matter who we are or what we have done, you welcome us home with open arms. We may not believe it, but you deem us worthy of your love and grace. Therefore, we uplift to you our fragmented and imperfect prayers. Beckon us from within so that we may find that place […]

Sing a New Church Into Being: A Prayer for Human Dignity, Melting Permafrost, and Water (January 13, 2022)

As the scheduled writer for this week, I, like so many others, am finding life in its beauty and complexity challenging, dispiriting, frustrating, with more questions than answers and often don’t want to hear what I think God is trying to say to me as the way forward: more of the same old, same old…? […]

May Your Kin-dom Come: Prayers for Ecuador’s Prisons, Uganda, and Afghanistan’s Hunger (November 18, 2021)

Our Mother, Father in heaven. Thank you for your Presence within and through us and all that lives. Thank you for teaching us how to pray. Reveal to us who you are. We see you in the wonder of discovery like the bee expert who found 800,000 bees in an ancient British forest. We see […]

Shine Your Light: A Diwali Prayer Against Child Marriage and for COP26 in Glasgow (November 4, 2021)

May these prayers and meditations be received by You, O Lord. Take them and bind them to your will. This is the time of Diwali or Deepawali, a Hindu festival of lights celebrated by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and some Buddhists in the northern hemisphere in the fall. We meditate on the spiritual nature of the victory of […]

How Shall I Pray Today: Prayers for Drought and Floods, Afghanistan’s Girls, and David Amess (October 21, 2021)

How shall I pray, today, Lord? So many topics, situations, peoples, needs, joys, and problems all clamoring for attention and my thoughts are whirling and screaming. Calm us, Lord, as you calmed the storm on Galilee for your disciples. “The world and all that is in it belong to the Lord; the earth and all who live […]

Turn Up and Shut Up: A Prayer for Murdered Land Defenders and the Common Good (September 16, 2021)

“Lord, take me where You want me to go Let me meet who You want me to meet Tell me what You want me to say and Keep me out of your way.” ~ Fr Mychal Judge, Franciscan friar and RC priest, chaplain to New York […]

Shield Us in Every Need: Prayers for Cyprus Wildfires, Haiti, and a Condo Collapse (July 8, 2021)

In name of the Holy Spirit of grace, In name of the Father of the City of Peace, In name of Jesus who takes death off us, Oh, in name of the Three who shield us in every need, If well you have found us tonight, Seven times better may you leave us without harm, […]