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.

Though I May Speak: Prayers for a Walled World, Famine, and the Storming of the US Capitol (January 7, 2021)

Editor’s note: World In Prayer needs a few more writers and editors! Our team consists of 12-15 volunteers, from several different countries and continents. Each week, one person writes the prayers in response to international news. A second person then edits and posts the prayers online. Because we rotate who writes and edits, you would end up serving […]

Come Now, O Prince of Peace: Advent Prayers for Ethiopia, Nigeria, and New Zealand (December 17, 2020)

Come now, O Prince of Peace, make us one body. Come, O Lord Jesus, reconcile your people. – Geonyong Lee (Tune: OSOSO) With heavy hearts, we come to you during this time of waiting, this time of Advent as we prepare for the coming of the One who is God’s incarnated Love. Only this year, […]

We Are Uncertain, Lord: An Advent Prayer for Joy in Venezuela, India, and Iraq (December 10, 2020)

Dear God, We know this above all things – your steadfast love endures beyond all things here on this earth and beyond this earth. We know this, and yet we still struggle. We know that we are your people, and we also know that you most certainly are our God. Although we know we can […]

The Road Less Traveled: A Thanksgiving Prayer for a Year of Too Many Changes (November 26, 2020)

Creator God, This year has been different. We know you don’t need us to tell you that – but it helps to get it off our minds and you have broad shoulders to carry our burden. Easter was different, Eid and Diwali, too. And now Thanksgiving and next it will be Christmas. We know people’s […]

A Different Kind of King: A Christ the King Prayer for Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and Tigray (November 19, 2020)

In 1925, Pope Pius XI established the Feast of Christ the King, also known as Christ the King Sunday, as a corrective to a major worldwide shift toward nationalism. This feast day is included in the Revised Common Lectionary and is celebrated by most mainline Protestant denominational groups. O Christ, what can it mean for […]

Blessed Are the Peacemakers: Prayers for Mozambique, Ethiopia, and the Armenia Ceasefire (November 12, 2020)

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive […]

Today I Choose Love: A Prayer During the US Election Count and for Vienna, Nigeria, and Ethiopia (November 5, 2020)

Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent. He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters; he makes the clouds his chariot; he rides on […]

Your Peace in Place of Our Violence: Prayers for Walter Wallace Jr, EndSARS, and Syria (October 29, 2020)

We meet you in prayer this day, asking for hope and guidance during these times of great uncertainty. We lift our hearts in prayer for all those protesting police brutality: In Philadelphia, PA, U.S., where Walter Wallace, Jr., a black man experiencing a mental health crisis, was shot and killed by police. In Nigeria amid […]

Be Strong and Courageous: Prayers for Nigeria’s Protests and Western Wildfires (October 22, 2020)

“I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 Dear God, Our world is changing in ways that we never imagined. We are in need of your unwavering love. We live in a world which holds so […]

Engraved Upon My Palms: Hyderabad’s Floods, Kilimanjaro’s Fire, and the Reef (October 15, 2020)

1 Thessalonians 5: 1 – 3 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they say, ‘There is peace and security’, then […]