World in Prayer

Sharing in God’s loving compassion for all

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.

Wake the Sleepers: Prayers for Canada’s Unmarked Graves, Tigray, and a Building Collapse (June 24, 2021)

Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping; that awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep we may rest in peace. –Concluding Prayer for Compline, from The Book of Common Prayer “When evening had come, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd behind, […]

Lord, What Is Happening: Prayers for India’s Pandemic, Global Famine, and Mount Meron (May 6, 2021)

Lord, we thought the human world had turned a corner in the pandemic, so we watch and listen with despair at the news from India and pray and hope the same will not happen in Papua New Guinea. Lord, mighty and marvelous, what is happening? We name especially Yemen, Haiti, Syria, South Sudan and Tigray, […]

You Keep Track of Our Sorrows: Prayers for Daunte Wright, Afghanistan, and a Warming Earth (April 15, 2021)

O God, you come to us wherever and however we might be. No matter how much we may not believe it, we are worthy of your love and grace. Therefore, we uplift to you all of our raggedy and incomplete prayers to you—the ones that fall from our lips, the ones that remain hidden within […]

What I See Outside My Window: Holocaust Remembrance, India’s Farmers, Syria (January 28, 2021)

God of all times and places, as we look out into your world we see so many different things: sun snow rain chaos silence hope fear peace violence justice faith oppression … The list goes on, and on, and on. As I gaze out my window today, I am reminded that what I see what […]

Lord, Rend the Heavens and Answer: Prayers for Gaza, Indonesia’s Disasters, and Syria’s Camps (January 21, 2021)

This opening Litany of Praise is from the Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity 2021 taken from the ecumenical service published by CTBI prepared by the The Monastic Community of Grandchamp. Switzerland.  Congregation: You who call us to be praise in the midst of the earth: glory to you! Reader 1: We sing your praise in the midst […]

We Long to Be Held: A Prayer After the US Capitol Attack and Uganda’s Election (January 14, 2021)

Dear God, Today we long to be held.  We long to be held, not by the hateful actions we see on our televisions.  Not by a virus that continually kills thousands upon thousands.  Not by our divisions and the things which cause us to break apart.  We long to be held by your unbreakable, unshakeable, […]

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 […]

I Am For You: A Year’s End Prayer After a Maelstrom of a Year (December 31, 2020)

As I come to write this I am frazzled, angry and baffled at the illogical, selfish behavior of some close to me who with their medical expertise and knowledge should know better and take precautions in the face of the surging pandemic. They are not alone – sadly. Lockdowns, illness, suffering, death, separation, and lack […]

Your Peace in Place of Our Violence: Prayers for Walter Wallace Jr, EndSARS, and Syria (October 29, 2020)

We meet you in prayer this day, asking for hope and guidance during these times of great uncertainty. We lift our hearts in prayer for all those protesting police brutality: In Philadelphia, PA, U.S., where Walter Wallace, Jr., a black man experiencing a mental health crisis, was shot and killed by police. In Nigeria amid […]

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 […]