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.

All Good Gifts: A Summer Prayer After the Istanbul Airport Attack and for South Sudan’s Hunger (June 30, 2016)

God of the seasons, we thank you for summer. You surround us with evidence of revival, eternal life, abundance, resurrection in every field, every garden, every flower bed, every forest, every vacation spot and swimming hole. The discovery in Nepal of a tiny but flourishing colony of birds – red-faced liocichla – thought to have been […]

Lord, Have Mercy: Prayers for Libya, Syria, Nauru’s Detained Refugees, and the Legacy of Jo Cox (June 23, 2016)

Violent protests, burning and looting in Pretoria, South Africa, over mayoral election… Foreign supporters of ISIS have taken over Sirte, Libya, murdering, torturing, crucifying Muslims and Christians… Russian fighters are dropping cluster bombs in Syria, indiscriminately endangering and killing civilians and children as well as fighters… Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Violence and hatred […]

Never Think We Do Not Care: A Prayer After the Orlando Nightclub Shooting and the Death of Jo Cox (June 17, 2016)

Prayers in response to Orlando, Florida, US – where a gunman shot and killed 49, with 53 more injured, at a gay nightclub, before he himself was killed Mosul, Iraq – after 19 Yazidi girls were burnt alive by their Islamic State captors, in front of a crowd of hundreds, for refusing to have sex […]

Lord, Hear Our Prayer: For EgyptAir Flight MS804, Sri Lanka’s Landslides, and Venezuela’s Hunger (May 19, 2016)

Heavenly Father, we come to you with open but hurt hearts with this week’s news. May the Holy Spirit fill us with strength and compassion towards our neighbors, near and far. We pray for the millions of students who celebrate their graduations. May their learning enrich our world. Lord, hear our prayer. We pray for […]

Lord, Speak to Me That I May Speak: Prayers for Somalia’s Hungry and for Those Who Answer the Call (May 12, 2016)

Loving God, we pray for your guidance, yea even for your insistence, that we learn from the distillation of meaningful description of the lives of those whose example we would follow. When we feel weak, remind us we are no weaker than Moses who as an infant was condemned to death by Pharaoh with all […]

Love One Another: Prayers for Fort McMurray’s Wildfire Evacuees and Refugees Held on Nauru (May 5, 2016)

“You move us to delight in praising You; for You have formed us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in You.” -St Augustine of Hippo in ‘Confessions’ “(Humans) are the ultimate paradox: the finite made for the infinite.” -Archbishop Desmond Tutu in ‘God has a Dream – a vision of […]

Do Not Let Them Be Afraid: Prayers After a Philippines Beheading and the Death of Prince (April 28, 2016)

Jesus said, ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not let them be afraid.’ God of comfort, God of peace, we are often fear-filled people. We regard our world through eyes clouded by tears of fear and frustration, making it difficult to […]

A New Heaven and a New Earth: Prayers for Syrian Refugees Lost at Sea and for Flint’s Water (April 21, 2016)

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away… Revelation 21:1 There are days and times, Holy God, when our wish for a new earth is almost overwhelming; days and times when, as we look around this old earth, we can see only […]

He Comes to Us as One Unknown: A Prayer for Refugees, the Sick, and All Who Cry for Justice (April 7, 2016)

He comes to us as One unknown, without a name, as of old, by the lakeside, He came to those men who knew Him not. He speaks to us the same words: ‘Follow thou me!’ and sets us to the tasks which He has to fulfill for our time. –Albert Schweitzer You come to us, […]

We, Easter People, Pray: For Guantanamo, Libya’s Rival Governments, and Pakistan’s Christians (March 31, 2016)

Lord, in the strength of grace With a glad heart and free … Charles Wesley Today, in the grace of being Easter people, we pray for those who are supported by your grace alone in the turmoil and oppression of war, terror, famine, drought, prejudice, bigotry. We pray for all in Guantanamo Bay military prison […]