Jesus, you call us to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. May we shine the light of your peace and love to its farthest corners as we remember your world in our prayers. We pray for Russia as it hosts the Winter Olympics in Sochi, for the athletes who […]
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.
Humility and Perseverance: A Prayer for Negotiations, Climate Change, and an End to Executions (January 30, 2014)
God, on whom we rely, hear this prayer for humility and perseverance. You know that we are ever tempted to reject the better for the perfect. Help us embrace the possibilities unfolding in negotiations between the United States and Syria, in disputes in Ukraine, wherever progress, even modest progress, is being made. Free of implementation […]
Sometimes I Don’t Know What to Say: A New Year Prayer Amid Despair and Silliness (January 16, 2014)
God, sometimes I don’t know what to say. I write my prayer the same week that I offer prayers for three mothers who died too young. I write my prayer with the sounds of despair all around me. A Middle East that never seems to see what the Wise Men saw, a star in the […]
Gifts of the Wise Men: An Epiphany Prayer for Chile’s Fires and Sudan’s Displaced (January 9, 2014)
And, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped […]
Home by Another Road: A New Year Prayer for a World Still Broken After Christmas (January 2, 2014)
World in Prayer This Week – January 2, 2014 “And having been warned in dream not to return to Herod, they [the Wise Ones] left for their own country by another road.” Matthew 2:12 (NRSV) God of dreams and desires, in this sacred season you reach to the world in rhythms beyond the rational. An […]
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel: An Advent Prayer to Set the Captives Free (December 19, 2013)
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. We are still waiting for you. We are waiting for the Prince of Peace. We are waiting for the Wisdom from on high. We are waiting for the King of all nations. O come and set the captives free. Free those who are captive to violence. The people of Syria, […]
Positive Delight in a Wonderful World: A Thanksgiving Prayer for the Enslaved and the Attacked (November 28, 2013)
When Jesus said, ‘I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly’ (John 10 : 10), I do not think He was speaking only of spiritual life – I think He meant us to have positive delight in all the good things in this wonderful world which his […]
May Your Kingdom Come: A Prayer After Typhoon Haiyan and US Tornadoes (December 3, 2013)
For in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. Colossians 1:16 (NRSV) Creating God, you spoke and the world came to be. Through your Word, life began. Your living word continues […]
The World Is a Needy Place: Prayers for Cook Stoves, Girls, and Central Africa (November 7, 2013)
Creative and guiding spirit, We bring this prayer with particular remembrance that, just as we shall always have the poor among us, so it is also our work to notice and to help. We pray earnestly for the strength of vision and of mind to respond thoughtfully to needs throughout the world, such as: –The […]
May Your Footsteps Show: A Prayer for Migrants Lost in the Niger Desert (October 31, 2013)
Creator God, by your word and in your power, you have created us and our world. As we learn more of you, so we come to realize how powerful is your word. In your company I’ll go where your love and footsteps show. Thus I’ll move and live and grow in you and you in me. (John L. Bell […]