Prayers for the United States

Prayers naming the United States have followed storms, tornadoes, wildfires and floods across many states, along with elections and political tension, gun violence, and questions of migration and race. Health, mental health and the well-being of ordinary households appear often, as do thanksgivings for its landscapes and wild places.

World News This Week In Prayer – Thursday, September 3, 2026

Ideas for using the prayer in congregational worship: In 1739 Charles Wesley composed the text to “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing,” and in 1828 Carl Gotthelf Gläser set Wesley’s text to the hymn tune he composed and named AZMON. In 1989, Miriam Therese Winter set fresh words to the hymn’s majestic music. Winter’s […]

Neighbors, Not Enemies: A Prayer for Canada and the United States, DR Congo, and the Himalayan Flood (August 28, 2026)

Dear God of all the people who live on the earth, our weeks hold both joys and tragedies that are sometimes near us and sometimes what seems like a world away. We all live and move and have our being alongside our neighbors – those who share our time zones, even the schools for our […]

Forgotten by Us, Dear to You: Prayers for Ukraine, Thailand’s School Shooting, and Ebola in DR Congo (August 20, 2026)

Holy and gracious God, who loves all and forgets none, we bring to you our prayers for all your children around the globe. For all in the throes of violence and war, including Ukraine and Russia, Palestine and Israel, Iran and the USA, India, Kenya, Indonesia, Haiti, and anywhere your people live in fear: Hear […]

Wonder and Grief: The Total Eclipse, Colombia’s Earthquake, and Journalists of Courage (August 13, 2026)

Lover of the sky, painted with pink and gold streaks, with billowy clouds that invite us to rest, we praise you for the beauty that you gift us each day. We ask your forgiveness for our lack of attention. Thank you for offering us the extraordinary event of a total eclipse in Greenland, Spain, and […]

Prayers for the World’s Waterways: Drought, Floods, and the Strait of Hormuz (August 6, 2026)

Spirit of God, as you hovered over the waters at the start of the creation, hover over the waterways of our world through navigation, water treatment, purification, desalination, and sewage treatment to prevent the spread of waterborne diseases. We pray for the safe passage of goods and supplies as nations use maritime waterways, where wars […]

Through the Water and the Fire: Prayers for European Wildfires, Japan’s Earthquake, and Addiction (July 30, 2026)

Gracious and loving God, we come before You with humble hearts, mindful of a world that longs for Your peace and healing. We lift to You those who are suffering from war and violence, those recovering from natural disasters, those facing hunger, illness, loneliness, and uncertainty, and all who carry burdens known only to You. […]

Swords into Plowshares: Prayers for Iran, Ukraine, Sudan, and All Who Seek Refuge (July 16, 2026)

Holy One, Creator of every nation and every people, Breath that moved over the waters before the dawn of creation, we come before you carrying a world that is beautiful and wounded in equal measure. Your prophets dreamed of a day when swords would become plowshares and nations would learn war no more. Yet this […]

May We Listen to Women: Prayers for Seven Activists from Afghanistan to Gambia (July 9, 2026)

I stand on the sacrifices of a million women before me Thinking what can I do To make this mountain taller So the women after me Can see farther Legacy, rupi kaur Zahra Joya is the founder of Rukhshana Media, Afghanistan’s first feminist news agency. The outlet’s name honors a 19-year-old girl who was […]

We Cry Aloud to God: Prayers After Venezuela’s Earthquakes, Europe’s Heat, and the Ebola Outbreak (July 2, 2026)

God of our Mothers and Fathers, we come to you this week with adoration and praise, with lament and longing, with sadness and grief. We see beauty in your world, and we see devastation. We cry aloud to you this week for some of the conditions and situations in the world you created. We join […]

Unless You Become Like Children: Prayers for the World’s Children, from Gaza to Texas (June 25, 2026)

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child […]