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.

Like a Refiner’s Fire: A Prayer of Repentance for a Freezing and Burning World (January 31, 2019)

But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present […]

Bless Them, O Lord: A Prayer for Political Turmoil and for Every Season of Life (January 24, 2019)

Heavenly Father, we find ourselves in abundance. We feel great sadness but also great love in our world. We worry about those who feel forgotten; we worry about the people who tell stories of persecution because their difference is seen as criminal. We turn to you, Holy Creator, to free us from worry and to […]

You Are My Beloved: Prayers During the US Government Shutdown and After the Nairobi Siege (January 17, 2019)

As the words of the Spirit echo in our ears, “You are my child, my beloved.” “You bring me delight and joy.” The news of the week shakes us back to reality, the world is not as it could be, the heavenly kingdom struggles to break forth. Grant us courage in the face of our […]

Thirsty for Good News: Prayers for Refugees, Disputed Elections, and Welcomed Students (January 10, 2019)

And a voice came from above, “You are my beloved child; I love you.” – Luke 3:22 Baptized in water, sealed by the Spirit, marked with the sign of Christ our king: Born of the Spirit, we are God’s children; joyfully now God’s praise we sing. Michael Saward, tune: BUNESSAN Holy One, you who love […]

Liberty to the Captives: Prayers for Imprisoned Journalists and Children Separated at the Border (December 20, 2018)

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18-19, Isaiah 61:1,2 Oh […]

Grief, Fear and Strength: Prayers for California Wildfires, Yemen and the Rohingya (November 29, 2018)

Holy One, When what we have is yours and what we receive is a gift from you, we offer up our words of prayer in the knowledge that you are the Word from whom all our prayers flow. We pray with grief for the things that have broken your heart; we pray with joy for […]

How Majestic Is Your Name: A Psalm 8 Prayer for Peacekeepers, Asylum Seekers and the Earth (November 22, 2018)

Note: Words in italics are from Ps 8 (NRSV) O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! As cosmologists view a “ghost galaxy” hidden in sight… You have set your glory above the heavens. As the UN tries to recruit more women to be Blue Helmets peacekeepers, Mali has the […]

A Miracle of More Than Enough: A Thanksgiving Prayer for the Migrant Caravan and California Fires (November 15, 2018)

Thanksgiving Prayer “Oh, may this bounteous God through all our life be near us, With ever joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us; And keep us in His grace, and guide us when perplexed; And guard us through all ills in this world, till the next!” (verse 2, “Now Thank We All Our God,” […]

Love Your Neighbor: Prayers After the Thousand Oaks Shooting and the US Midterm Elections (November 8, 2018)

Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is […]

Leaves for the Healing of the Nations: Prayers After the Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting (November 1, 2018)

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the […]