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.

We See Christ Crucified Still: A Good Friday and Easter Prayer for a Wounded World (April 2, 2026)

Note from this week’s writer: I cannot separate Easter Day from Good Friday. One without the other is senseless to me. When I read or hear the news from around the world, there is always a mixture of the bleakness and helplessness of Good Friday and the hope and joy God brings out of chaos, […]

Toward Palm Sunday: Prayers for Nations at War, Flooding in Hawaii, and Those Facing Antisemitism (March 26, 2026)

Lord of mercy and Father of all good, As we walk the quiet road toward Palm Sunday, steady our hearts in the rhythm of Your grace. In these Lenten days, where reflection meets longing, teach us to lay down not only palm branches, but the burdens we clutch so tightly— our pride, our fear, our […]

Resurrection Is New Creation: Prayers After the Kabul Hospital Airstrike, for Iran and Ukraine (March 19, 2026)

O God, you created us all in your image and declared us good, yet we question your judgment and act as though some lives are worth less than others. Our hearts are so often heavy with the news of the world, yet we do not carry it alone. Let us know that Jesus weeps with […]

We Pray for Peace: A Prayer for Iran, Israel, the United States, and Every Nation Drawn Into War (March 12, 2026)

We come before You with heavy hearts as war spreads and many lives are shaken. Many of David’s psalms called out to the Lord for protection, strength and victory against his enemies – we pray for divine peaceful intervention during this conflict. David trusted God and called upon the Lord to defend and scatter foes. […]

O God, Our Help in Ages Past: Prayers for Madagascar’s Cyclones and Africa’s Drought (February 26, 2026)

We praise you, O God, for another day to see the dawn, another evening to see the dusk, for the moon and the stars that shine their light at night. We praise you for your great and mighty acts, for your favor to your creatures and your creation. We come to you with our hearts […]

Ashes and Renewal: A Lenten Prayer for Nations at War and for Rev. Jesse Jackson (February 19, 2026)

Heavenly Father, Having just observed the holy day of Ash Wednesday – as we enter the sacred season of Lent – we come before You in humility. The ashes that marked us, remind us we are dust, and to dust we shall return. Strip away our pride, our distractions, and our indifference. Create in us clean hearts, O God, […]

And the Floodwaters Covered the Earth: A Prayer for Southern Africa’s Floods (January 22, 2026)

…And the floodwaters covered the earth… (Genesis 7) I thought I knew what I was doing, when I offered to cover for this week’s scheduled prayer writer, whose whole family had come down with the flu. Easy. I had half a week to prepare, nothing much booked for those days. Easy. I didn’t know that an […]

A Threshold Prayer for the New Year: Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, and the Disasters We Carry Into 2026 (January 1, 2026)

By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. Luke 1:78-79 God, at the end of […]

Away in a Manger: An Advent Prayer for the Displaced and for Prisoners Freed in Belarus (December 18, 2025)

Away in a manger, No crib for his bed. Advent Jesus, Our hearts break for those who are displaced due to war, violence, oppression, or persecution, who have nowhere to lay their weary heads. Our souls ache for the homeless who are facing winter weather and have no place to stay warm. And our spirits […]

This Is No Time for a Child to Be Born: Advent Prayers for Gaza and Indonesia’s Floods (December 11, 2025)

An interpretation, in prayer, of Madeleine L’Engle’s poem: “This Is No Time for a Child to Be Born” Christmas 1973 O, Word of words, you were here at the beginning and you are here with each of us through the short spans of life on this Earth. You know the giant arcs of time, and so […]