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.

A Prayer on the International Day of Peace: Libya’s Flood Dead, Manipur, and Ukraine (September 21, 2023)

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Psalm 103:1 Holy One, We long to be faithful stewards of your love – to know, love, and serve you and each other with humility, wisdom and love, but God, at times, our world is full of despair that […]

So Much Sorrow to Grieve: Prayers After the Morocco Earthquake and Libya’s Derna Floods (September 14, 2023)

Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul? And why are you so disquieted within me? – Psalm 42:6 There is so much sorrow and so many things to grieve in our world. Help us, God, as we weep for all the suffering surrounding us. For the people of Morocco who experienced a […]

Give Us Our Daily Bread: A Prayer for Landslides in India, Famine, and Chile’s Disappeared (August 31, 2023)

Great Mystery, We offer these prayers. We are amazed to hear of a meteorite coming from interstellar space, found in the Pacific Ocean, and discovered to be formed of an unknown alloy of metals. Forger of rock and mountain, waterfall and volcano we are in awe of this world and beyond. And we extract its […]

Beloved One, Interrupt Us: A Prayer for Pakistan’s Churches, Maui’s Wildfires, and Silenced Women (August 17, 2023)

Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and […]

Fire, Earth, Water, Air: A Prayer for a Scorched Planet and the Amazon Rainforest (August 10, 2023)

*The framework for this week’s prayer is drawn from “The Four Elements and the Creation of Man,” written by Vladimir Moss, an Orthodox Christian theologian and historian. https://www.orthodoxchristianbooks.com/articles/453/-four-elements-creation-man/ FIRE. “‘God is a consuming fire,’ says the apostle (Hebrews 12.29). And of the created angels who are filled with the Spirit of God it is said […]

A World Free From Nuclear Weapons: Prayers 78 Years After Hiroshima and Nagasaki (August 3, 2023)

As the world marks the 78th anniversary of the bombing of Japan’s Hiroshima and Nagasaki August 6-8, we acknowledge the religious, political, diplomatic, economic, and cultural state of the nuclear weapon era in our world community and pray for the end of this scourge: This week features a religious dialogue between Japanese bishops and United States pilgrims (including Archbishop […]

It Takes a Village: Prayers for Hunger in Yemen, Afghan Girls Denied School, and a Burning World (July 27, 2023)

The phrase “it takes a village to raise a child” originates from an African proverb and conveys the message that it takes many people (“the village”) to provide a safe, healthy environment for children, where children are given the security they need to develop and flourish, and to be able to realize their hopes and […]

Thanksgivings, Concerns, and Celebrations: Prayers for Ukraine, Kenya, and a World in Heat (July 20, 2023)

Mother God, we come to you with thanksgivings. We are grateful to be loved by You. We are grateful for hands to hold, for kindness, and for grace. We are grateful for sunshine, rain, and rainbows. We are grateful for the farmers and laborers who give us our daily bread. We are grateful for forgiveness. […]

Help Us Trust Your Unchanging Love: A Prayer for Refugees, Human Rights, and a Changing Climate (July 13, 2023)

We love you, Lord, and we’ve heard your voice… calling us to make you real and known in the world to all whom you place in our path, undergirded by prayer. How do we pray and for what? Do you hear us? Or are we asking for the wrong things? Are we too impatient or […]

Under the Same Moon: Prayers for Israel and Palestine, US Mass Shootings, and the Unrest in France (July 6, 2023)

“It shall be established forever like the moon, the witness in the sky is faithful.” – Psalm 89:37 God of moon and sun, God of rhythm and constant presence – This week around the world, we gazed upon the fullness of the same moon. Just as we gaze upon the same You – when in […]