World in Prayer

Sharing in God’s loving compassion for all

Prayers for South Sudan

Civil war and the displacement it causes shape most of what has been prayed for South Sudan, together with famine, drought, and some of the lowest household incomes anywhere. Peace agreements, peacekeepers, and children settled in refugee camps across the border are named here as well.

Though I May Speak: Prayers for a Walled World, Famine, and the Storming of the US Capitol (January 7, 2021)

Editor’s note:  World In Prayer needs a few more writers and editors!  Our team consists of 12-15 volunteers, from several different countries and continents. Each week, one person writes the prayers in response to international news. A second person then edits and posts the prayers online.  Because we rotate who writes and edits, you would end up serving […]

Help Us to Hear These Voices: Prayers for Housekeepers, Child Soldiers, and Beirut (August 6, 2020)

Dear Lord, help us to hear these voices. I pray today that my knees and back hold up.  I pray that my mom and children are ok in our two-bedroom apartment while I work at a hotel and clean 15 rooms each day. I pray that my paycheck will be enough, that my car holds […]

Teach Our Eyes to Smile: Prayers for Chernobyl’s Wildfires, Front Line Workers, and Nations in Crisis (April 30, 2020)

Dear Lord, Sometimes we feel so alone and unprepared and exhausted. Sometimes we feel forgotten and stepped upon. Lord, remind us to breathe, to look outward and to look inward. Lord, remind us that in praying we are doing your will. Help us to examine ourselves and to prepare for each day, knowing you are […]

Praying With Psalm 116: A Pandemic of Grief, Lost Work, and Famine of Biblical Proportions (April 23, 2020)

Praying with Psalm 116 in this time of pandemic* We love you, O God, because you have heard the voice of our supplications, because you have inclined your ear to us whenever we called upon you. (Psalm 116, v. 1, adapted) Because you have been faithful to us, O God, from time immemorial, bringing us […]

A Prayer at the Turn of the Decade: For Nations at War and Hearts in Despair (January 2, 2020)

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above. James 1:17 Oh Lord, there are many things that concern us and call us to prayer. We open our hearts to you in gratitude and wonder. We pray for those who rage and are quick to anger, for those who seem to be eaten up […]

Nurture Them, Shelter Them, Love Them: Prayers for 70 Million Displaced People and Juneteenth (June 20, 2019)

Holy One, Our hands reach out, our voices call forth, our hearts lift up, and in the act of praying, once again, we discover you. Our words are but a small measure of the world’s great need, yet as we draw close to you, you draw close to us. We pray to you, O Lord. […]

Like a Refiner’s Fire: A Prayer of Repentance for a Freezing and Burning World (January 31, 2019)

But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present […]

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 […]

A More Perfect Union: Prayers for the Thai Cave Boys, the Capital Gazette and Refugees (July 5, 2018)

This week’s prayers are adapted, with permission, from a prayer written for U.S. Independence Day 2018 by Leslie Barnes Scoopmire. (Inspired by the Preamble to the United States Constitution) In peace, we pray to You, Lord, God: from our rising to our resting we give You thanks and praise for all your blessings. We give […]

Lazy, Hazy Days: Prayers for Families Separated, the Tham Luang Cave and the Saddleworth Moor Fires (June 28, 2018)

Dear Lord, In the Northern Hemisphere, we expectantly “roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer…”* but there is a parent and grandparent duty.  We plan exciting activities for little ones in our care, for camps and vacations and community programs. In this season of school year endings we watch and wait for exam […]