World in Prayer

Sharing in God’s loving compassion for all

Prayers for South Africa

Corruption cases, contested elections, and the transitions of political power are steady concerns in these prayers for South Africa, as are drought, flooding, and xenophobic violence. Nelson Mandela is mourned here, and thanks is given for schools that welcome, truces kept, and communities that feed one another.

Give Grace to Your Servants: A Prayer of Grief for a World Apart (July 16, 2020)

This week’s prayer contains excerpts from The [Episcopal] Book of Common Prayer. Lord God, today we gather in Your name, though most of us not in the indoor spaces that have come to symbolize gathering spaces for those seeking truth, justice, and faith. Many of us struggle to feel the sacred or even simple connection […]

Kitten-Shaped Prayers: Ethiopia’s Oromo Protests, Hong Kong’s Security Law, and a Myanmar Landslide (July 2, 2020)

The World in Prayer team member who wrote this week’s prayers has spent the past 6 weeks catching, taming, and finding homes for a litter of feral kittens. It has, she says, definitely affected how she understands God, and how she prays for the world. “You’ll have to forgive me,” she writes, “if these prayers […]

A Holy Week Prayer: Food Sharing in Italy, Ventilators in Nigeria, a Gang Truce in Cape Town (April 9, 2020)

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.         ~ Lamentations 3: 21b – 23 [Early on the first day of the week] Mary Magdalene […]

Like Grasses Showing Tender Faces: A Prayer as the Pandemic Circles the Globe (March 12, 2020)

Every little thing is sent for something, and in that thing there should be happiness and the power to make happy. Like the grasses showing tender faces to each other, thus we should do, for this was the wish of the Grandfathers of the World.   Black Elk, (1863-1950) Oh God, we read these words […]

Kindle a Flame to Lighten the Dark: Prayers for Hurricane Dorian, Yemen, and Refugees (September 5, 2019)

Kindle a flame to lighten the dark and take all fear away. ~ John L Bell and Graham Maule* When nations are being riven by fear, lies, lack of trust in political, business and so many seeming to seek leadership positions for their own aggrandisement rather than the common good: Kindle a flame to lighten […]

May Your Love Flow Through: A Prayer for the Burning Amazon and a World on Fire (August 29, 2019)

Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. – 1 Peter 4:8 God of love, you created the world and everything in it. You created the beautiful rain forests, the colorful sunsets, the innumerable animals and leaving creatures, human beings, and most of all you created the love […]

Lighten the Darkness Where We Are: Prayers After El Paso and Dayton, for Kabul and Kashmir (August 8, 2019)

‘Truly the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him on those who hope in his steadfast love..’ ~ Ps 33:18 ‘Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen…..  By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God so that what […]

Call to Us Now: Prayers After the Sri Lanka Easter Bombings and the Philippines Earthquake (April 25, 2019)

Holy One, Your Name is above all names, it is so high that we cannot attain it, yet still we seek it. And when we cannot find you, when we do not understand what is happening, when our hearts quake with fear and our spirits tremble with unknowing, when we stumble and search and seek […]

Safe in the Shadow of the Lord: A Prayer on Cheap Goods, Fake News, and Religious Persecution (March 7, 2019)

“Safe in the shadow of the Lord beneath His hand and power, I trust in Him, I trust in Him, my fortress and my tower.” – paraphrase of Ps 91 by Timothy Dudley-Smith   Heavenly Father, Your word and being is of compassion, merciful care and everlasting love to all, regardless of merit.  The response […]

Thirsty for Good News: Prayers for Refugees, Disputed Elections, and Welcomed Students (January 10, 2019)

And a voice came from above, “You are my beloved child; I love you.” – Luke 3:22 Baptized in water, sealed by the Spirit, marked with the sign of Christ our king: Born of the Spirit, we are God’s children; joyfully now God’s praise we sing.                                                     Michael Saward, tune: BUNESSAN  Holy One, you who love […]