Prayers for Syria

Syria appears here mainly through the long war and its displacement, with families scattered into neighboring countries and beyond, health care and shelter in short supply, and religious minorities among those held in prayer. Chemical weapons, ceasefire talks and repeated negotiations are named plainly, along with thanks for those who help.

When the News Is Also Olds: Prayers for Johannesburg’s Fire, Mosul, and Charlie Gard (July 6, 2017)

Lord, time after time the news reflects what has happened; this week’s events reflecting what has already happened. So we pray for those for whom the news is also “olds” – for they remember the pain, the trauma, the fear, the deep changes in their lives. We pray for those caught in the fire in […]

Worth More Than Sparrows: Prayers for Portugal’s Wildfires, Storm Cindy, and Yemen’s Cholera (June 22, 2017)

Lord, I can see the cherries ripening on the tree outside. The raspberries redden almost quicker than I can pick, but there are those for whom there will be no harvest. As sparrows happily investigate the fruit, they remind me, everyone is of more value than sparrows. Deep down we really know this, however […]

The Harvest of Grace: Prayers After the Grenfell Tower Fire and Mogadishu Bombing (June 15, 2017)

The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the overseer of the harvest to send out laborers into the harvest. —Matthew 9.37-38 Harvest by Pastor Steve Garnaas-Holmes Maybe the harvest is not bringing people to Christ but gathering the fruits of the Spirit God has sown in you for the sake of […]

Amen, May It Be So: Prayers for Venezuela’s Protests and Arkansas Executions (April 27, 2017)

Amen. Yes. So be it. It will certainly be like this. May it be so. This is the truth. On this we can depend. Amen! Compassionate and loving God, as we watch events unfold across our world, our emotions often cannot be translated into words. So we call out to You with a word You […]

Roll Away the Stones: Prayers After the Aleppo Bus Bombing and for Refugees at Sea (April 20, 2017)

“According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” 1 Peter 1.3 Lord, giver of life, let us live our lives to the full, with humility, care and compassion and in your Son’s image. Let us forgive where […]

This Is the Day the Lord Has Made: Prayers After the Egypt Church Bombings and Stockholm Attack (April 13, 2017)

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24 We are stumbling on our way toward the day of Resurrection, gracious God. Stumbling and falling, sometimes crawling on our knees toward the cross, hoping that when we lift our tear-filled eyes, it will be empty, […]

May Your Mind Be in Us: Prayers After the Mocoa Landslide, Peru’s Floods, and Syria’s Gas Attack (April 6, 2017)

The Scottish theologian, William Barclay, suggested using ‘the mind of God’ instead of ‘the Word’ for Jesus. And so John 1:1, 2-5, 14 reads In the beginning was the mind of God,… 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was […]

Like a Tree Planted by the Water: A Prayer Amid Famine in South Sudan and East Africa (March 23, 2017)

Jeremiah 17:8 New International Version (NIV) They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. Our prayers come before […]

Lord, Have Mercy: A Prayer for South Sudan, Kidnapped Children in Ethiopia, and Syria (March 16, 2017)

Lord, have mercy, Christ, have mercy, Here and there and everywhere in between, On you and me and everyone in between, Now and later and upon everything in between. Lord Christ, we need your mercy. The suffering in South Sudan echoes the horrors of civil war, genocide and ethnic cleansing that mock the hope of […]

Love Never Fails: Prayers for Stranded Whales in New Zealand, the Oroville Dam, and Lahore (February 16, 2017)

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always […]