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.

Be Not Afraid: An Easter Prayer for Peace Deals and Signs of Hope (April 6, 2023)

Now the green blade rises from the buried grain, Wheat that in dark earth many days has lain: Love lives again, that with the dead has been: Love is come again like wheat arising green. When our hearts are wintry, grieving, or in pain, Your touch can call us back to life again, Fields of […]

Hosanna, Hosanna: A Palm Sunday Prayer After a School Shooting and the El Paso Fire (March 30, 2023)

Holy One, You who rode the simple donkey through the streets as the palm branches caught the sun. We hear the echoes of Hosanna, Hosanna through time as we remember, remember… Hosanna, Hosanna which means save us. And You do save us, in each moment. Your saving presence is with us always. Closer than we […]

A Wideness in God’s Mercy: A Confession for the Global Water Crisis (March 23, 2023)

World in Prayer- Thursday, 23 March 2023 “There’s a wideness in God’s mercy like the wideness of the sea”… so goes the old hymn. And we, your created ones, created to be co-creators with you, cling to this truth, Gracious One, often as a way of letting ourselves off the hook for our failure to […]

Strong, Determined, Courageous Women: A Prayer Honoring Six Women Changing Their Countries (March 9, 2023)

As we slow down, breathing in the wonders that are all around us, we give you thanks, Mother of all creation. Amongst the rubble of so much loss we see the joy that bubbles forth. We pray that you will lead us to uncover the truth even when it’s painful for us to see. Guide […]

The Bond of Our Common Humanity: A Lenten Prayer for Ukraine and Turkey (February 23, 2023)

“The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices.” – Jimmy Carter Oh, Lord, you shepherd us. You follow us. You lead us through the fog of our times. We get caught up in fear and weighed down by seemingly eternal prejudices. As we enter this Lenten season […]

Free Us, Living God: After the Ohio Derailment and Michigan State (February 16, 2023)

Spirit of the living God, help us to let love lead us forward. Many of our hearts are broken. The news in the world is grim. Violence is pervasive. Like ink, slowly seeping to the edge of a cloth, we watch as it spreads, eventually damaging the whole fabric. Soothe our suffering and enable us […]

Twenty Years of PEPFAR: Prayers for an End to AIDS and Health Injustice (February 3, 2023)

As the world marked January 28th, 2023, the 20th anniversary of President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), an initiative in the United States that has saved 20 million lives by providing more that 100 billion dollars for AIDS prevention and treatment, we pray that people of good will will not take their feet off […]

You Keep My Lamp Burning: For a Kenyan Shelter and a Russian Protest Artist (January 19, 2023)

You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. ~Psalm 18:28 (NIV) Great bearer of light, there is so much beauty that partners with darkness where the undercurrents of sadness and tragedy dwell. May we find beauty in darkness and honor the lessons offered to us. We thank you for the […]

We Didn’t See Them, But You Did: A Prayer to End Human Trafficking and Forced Labor (January 12, 2023)

On the dawn of a new year, we pray for the strength of convictions to the common good for leaders beginning new terms, especially President Lula da Silva of Brazil, whose government faced an overthrow attempt last weekend, and the new leadership in the House of Representatives of the United States. For courage for our […]

Creator of the Stars of Night: An Epiphany Prayer for Iran’s Protesters, Migrants, and Mogadishu (January 5, 2023)

Creator of the Stars of Night, On the eve of Epiphany, on the eve of the first full moon of the year, on the eve of the funeral of Pope Benedict, hear my prayer for the tomorrows of our world. The USA needs to elect a speaker of the house so that congress can be […]