World in Prayer

Sharing in God’s loving compassion for all

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.

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made: A Mother’s Day Prayer for Women and Children (May 18, 2023)

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.  Psalm 139:13-14 God, you cherish our mothers and children.  Mother’s Day is celebrated in over fifty countries, some as the US […]

Prayers Like Seeds: For Sudan’s Ceasefire, Gang Violence, and Earthquake Survivors (April 27, 2023)

God of Life, These prayers, like seeds that we tuck into the soil of You. We trust You hold them all — our yearning, worry, agonies, hidden longings, and celebrations — in the fertile cocoon of Love. Each winter as we come out of long dark into the time of bud and bloom we marvel […]

The Bond of Our Common Humanity: A Lenten Prayer for Ukraine and Turkey (February 23, 2023)

“The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices.” – Jimmy Carter Oh, Lord, you shepherd us. You follow us. You lead us through the fog of our times. We get caught up in fear and weighed down by seemingly eternal prejudices. As we enter this Lenten season […]

Free Us, Living God: After the Ohio Derailment and Michigan State (February 16, 2023)

Spirit of the living God, help us to let love lead us forward. Many of our hearts are broken. The news in the world is grim. Violence is pervasive. Like ink, slowly seeping to the edge of a cloth, we watch as it spreads, eventually damaging the whole fabric. Soothe our suffering and enable us […]

We Are Standing on Holy Ground: Prayers After the Turkey and Syria Earthquake (February 9, 2023)

“This is holy ground, we’re standing on holy ground For the Lord is present and where He is is holy.” And the commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so. (Joshua 5:15, Holy Bible, English […]

Blessed Are the Peacemakers: Prayers for Afghan Women and China’s COVID Wave (January 26, 2023)

Creator God, we praise you and give thanks that your son, Jesus, became a person like us and shared our concerns, joys, anxieties, and happiness. (Matthew 5:1-3)When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: […]

You Keep My Lamp Burning: For a Kenyan Shelter and a Russian Protest Artist (January 19, 2023)

You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. ~Psalm 18:28 (NIV) Great bearer of light, there is so much beauty that partners with darkness where the undercurrents of sadness and tragedy dwell. May we find beauty in darkness and honor the lessons offered to us. We thank you for the […]

No One Can Be Saved Alone: A Year’s End Prayer for Ukraine, the Climate, and the Common Good (December 29, 2022)

Good and gracious God, We your people, your sons and daughters gather these days on the close of a year.  Joys and challenges of 2022 are to be acknowledged, while we look forward in faith to 2023. We are encouraged by Pope Francis’s January 1, 2023 World Day of Peace Message entitled:  “No one can […]

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 […]

You Have the Truth to Set Us Free: A Thanksgiving Prayer for the Trafficked and Displaced (November 24, 2022)

“… for I am verily persuaded the Lord hath more truth yet to break forth out of His Holy Word.”  John Robinson. Lord, the news is difficult, often strange, maybe false, maybe half truth, out of context and fuelled by conspiracy.  What a relief to know that you have the truth contained within yourself; granted […]