How long, O Lord? Will you forget me for ever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; light […]
Prayers for the United Kingdom
Politics and public life fill much of what is prayed for the United Kingdom: elections, Parliament, division and distrust, and households under economic strain. Extreme weather, illness and racism appear too, and there is thanksgiving for climate commitments, for acts of solidarity, and for art and conservation.
Love One Another: Prayers After the Pakistan Helicopter Crash and Oklahoma Tornadoes (May 8, 2015)
Jesus said, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” God of Love and Light and Life, God of All Time and No Time, sometimes the demands of everyday life just overtake us and we forget, we lose track, we neglect those things to which we have committed ourselves- […]
The Sacred Among Us: Prayers for Nepal’s Displaced and for Mothers Everywhere (May 7, 2015)
In all our joys and in all our concerns, may we be ever mindful of the presentness of the sacred among us, and to see new possibilities of the now. Creativity God, be our guide in re-imagining our human institutions of government. As the United Kingdom‘s parliament undergoes a change and the United States continues to […]
Release to the Captives: Prayers for Raif Badawi and Boko Haram’s Kidnapped Girls (January 22, 2015)
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” Mark 1:14-15 We know, Lord, that you call us to a far wider agenda than proclaiming good news and […]
That We May All Be One: A Prayer for Christian Unity and for Paris (January 15, 2015)
Throughout the world, this Sunday marks the beginning of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, and so together we pray for the church of Christ, that we may all be one. Litany of Thanksgiving Because I love you, O my people, I was born in Bethlehem. They called me Emmanuel, for I am God […]
Enough: A Prayer After the Peshawar School Massacre (December 18, 2014)
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. – John 13:34 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. – Matthew 11:29 I have come into the […]
Black Lives Matter: A Prayer Against Violence and Modern Slavery (December 4, 2014)
Oh. Dear. God. No. Not again. I thought I knew what I was going to write for tonight’s prayers. And then I turned on the computer, and read that in the United States, yet another unarmed Black man had been shot, dead, by a police officer. Jesus. I am speechless, beyond shock. Everything I could […]
For the Healing of the Nations: A Prayer for the Children of Syria (July 31, 2014)
Is anything too hard for the Lord? Genesis 18:14 Healing of the nations. I watched a documentary on BBC TV called “The Children of Syria,” which followed children for several months from all sides in the war. Watching them parrot the hate for their former friends as taught them by their adult family and community […]
Be Still, for the Presence of the Lord: A Prayer for Meriam Ibrahim (June 26, 2014)
“I will create a pathway in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19 Beloved Holy One, Amidst the muted roar of nighttime and early morning traffic on highways, the stench of diesel and gasoline, the noise of human living, You are here. YOU ARE. Praise be! Whatever our situation – in town, village, […]
There Is a Balm in Gilead: A Prayer for Farzana Parveen and the Kidnapped Nigerian Schoolgirls (May 29, 2014)
Go up to Gilead and take balm. — Jeremiah 46:11 “There is a Balm in Gilead” – American Spiritual There is a balm in Gilead To make the wounded whole; There is a balm in Gilead To heal the sin sick soul. Some times I feel discouraged, And think my work’s in vain, But then […]