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.

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 […]

Be Merciful to Us: A Prayer After the Westgate Siege and Peshawar Bombing (September 26, 2013)

God of Heaven and Earth, Creator of all that is, seen and unseen, whom angels worship and adore, be merciful to us and hear us. Lord Jesus Christ, who came to earth to be with us and share in our suffering, be merciful to us and hear us. Holy Spirit, who dwells within us even […]

Our Father: A Lord’s Prayer for the Navy Yard Shooting, Marikana, and Overcrowded Prisons (September 19, 2013)

Our Father, who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread: –feed the hungry –nourish the poor in spirit –provide clean water –assign meaningful tasks and living wages –sustain our fields and farmers during this […]

Grant Wisdom, Grant Courage: A Prayer for Floods, Wildfires, and Maaloula (September 12, 2013)

Creator God we praise you for the changing of the seasons, for those areas of the Northern hemisphere where harvest is in progress or already complete; for those areas of the Southern hemisphere where the seedtime approaches and happens. The glory of the world wraps around us and we revel in the warmth and sunshine. […]

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made: A Prayer After the Gassing in Syria (September 5, 2013)

I praise you, O God, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” – Psalm 139:14 In the wonder of the moment we marvel at eyes that see the clear blue of sky, hands that feel the hand of a loved one beside us, feet that feel the solid earth beneath and ears that hear the […]