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 for a Divided World: The UN Assembly, La Palma’s Volcano, and Haitians at the Border (September 23, 2021)

Source of love and life, there are so many in need of your tender loving care. We uplift to you in prayer all who need your healing embrace in the fragile and hurting world this day. Christ, you said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” This peace is one deeply […]

Twenty Years After 9/11: Prayers for Afghanistan, Hurricane Ida, and Haiti’s Earthquake (September 9, 2021)

Holy One, We have so many prayers on our hearts, sometimes it is hard to know where to begin. We sit a moment in silence to seek out your Spirit as we enter into this time of prayer. As we approach the 20th anniversary of 9/11 on Saturday, we remember all those who lost their […]

May You Be Our Peace: A Prayer in Verse for Kabul, Haiti’s Earthquake, and Hurricane Ida (September 2, 2021)

Heavenly God, Peace, peace, peace. How we long for this – this peace that only you can give: The Godly peace in which our hearts long to live. As we wake up to another day another hour, We wish that you will give us some kind of power. A power to help, a power to […]

Prayers of Thanksgiving and Lament: Mars Rovers, Madagascar’s Famine, and Haiti (August 26, 2021)

The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it; for he has founded it on the seas, and established it on the rivers. (Psalm 24:1) Holy One, you have created a magnificent universe. We raise up prayers of thanksgiving for your manifold blessings. Especially we […]

When I Am Afraid: Prayers for Haiti’s Earthquake, Wildfires in France, and Afghanistan (August 19, 2021)

Be gracious to me, O God, for people trample on me; all day long foes oppress me; my enemies trample on me all day long, for many fight against me. O Most High, when I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I am […]

Bread of Life: Prayers for Simone Biles, Climate Disasters, and Conflict in Tigray (July 29, 2021)

O Christ, you once said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35) Today we yearn for your abundant life. We hunger for the bread of heaven to sustain us on our journey to find you. Reveal yourself […]

Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying: Floods in Germany and China, and Wildfires (July 22, 2021)

Lord, listen to your children praying, Lord, send your Spirit in this place; Lord, listen to your children praying, send us love, send us pow’r, send us grace. Text and music- Ken Medema God of all creation, God who calls us each and all by name, hear our prayers of anguish, of contrition, of […]

We Are God’s Poem: Prayers for Cuba’s Protests, Haiti, and an Iraq Hospital Fire (July 16, 2021)

“For we are God’s handiwork [trans. poiema, poem], created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has prepared in advance for us to do.” – New International Version “We are God’s works of art, created in Christ Jesus to live the good life as from the beginning he meant us to live.” – […]

Shield Us in Every Need: Prayers for Cyprus Wildfires, Haiti, and a Condo Collapse (July 8, 2021)

In name of the Holy Spirit of grace, In name of the Father of the City of Peace, In name of Jesus who takes death off us, Oh, in name of the Three who shield us in every need, If well you have found us tonight, Seven times better may you leave us without harm, […]

Be Still and Know: Prayers for LGBT+ Equality, Africa’s Vaccine Gap, and the Heat Dome (July 1, 2021)

My mind is overloaded and whirling. My mind is blank. My rational mind is leaping from one world event, so often catastrophes and suffering, to the next of fear and injustice. A sense of overwhelming helplessness and anger threatens to engulf me. My soul whispers, “Be still, and know that I am God…. and there […]