This week’s prayers are adapted, with permission, from a prayer written for U.S. Independence Day 2018 by Leslie Barnes Scoopmire. (Inspired by the Preamble to the United States Constitution) In peace, we pray to You, Lord, God: from our rising to our resting we give You thanks and praise for all your blessings. We give […]
Teach Us to Touch the Earth Lightly: Sectarian Violence, Deforestation and Zimbabwe’s Rangers (May 10, 2018)
Lord, we come before you Prayer is communication that invites at-one-ness with You, the source of our being. We call you God, and as revealed in the flesh, Jesus. We ask for empowerment. Transform us with the life-giving force of the Holy Spirit. Make us channels of the your Eternal Love, Light, and Grace. Help us to […]
It Seems Very Odd, Lord: Prayers for Cape Town’s Drought, Parkland, and a Week of Crashes (February 15, 2018)
It seems very odd, Lord, that people call for January to be a month to try being vegan when Lent was a period, 40 days, in the time before world trade hit our food markets when it was a necessity. We pray for those to whom being vegan is not a life style choice […]
Complicit as We Are in Humanity: A Prayer of Confession and Wonder (February 2, 2018)
Our prayer is for ourselves, complicit as we are in humanity. We pray for the humility to admit that we understand, sometimes participate, in the sins of humanity: the sin of tribalism that sets Turk against Kurd in mortal combat, the sin of denial that tries to reduce the horrors of the Holocaust to verbal […]
There Is a Balm in Gilead: Prayers for Those Jailed for Speaking Out, Firefighters, and Elephants (August 3, 2017)
The Lord upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down. Psalm 145:14 There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole; There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul. God of grace and glory, God who knows our hearts and minds, you can see, you […]
Not One Sparrow Forgotten: Prayers for Famine in Yemen, Cyclone Debbie, and Wildlife (March 30, 2017)
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. But even the hairs of your head are all counted. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. Luke 12:6-7 In the glory of the changing seasons; in the beauty of the […]
Love Never Fails: Prayers for Stranded Whales in New Zealand, the Oroville Dam, and Lahore (February 16, 2017)
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always […]
Write What You See: Prayers After the US Election, for Nigeria’s Survivors and Yemen’s Hunger (December 28, 2016)
What’s God going to say to my questions? I’m braced for the worst. I’ll climb to the lookout tower and scan the horizon. I’ll wait to see what God says, how he’ll answer my complaint. And then God answered: “Write this. Write what you see. Write it out in big block letters so that it […]
Lord, In Your Mercy: Prayers for Mosul, Aleppo, Hurricane Matthew, and Thailand (December 28, 2016)
Once again, Lord, the voice of the prophets remains strikingly relevant through the centuries. Joel 2:24-25a reminds us that: The threshing floors shall be full of grain, the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. I will repay you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten. As we pray for people who are […]
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 […]