World in Prayer

Sharing in God’s loving compassion for all

Lead Us From Darkness to Light: A Lenten Prayer for a Divided and Weary World (March 2, 2017)

Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin. … (God said) I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon […]

Awaken Us to a New Year: Prayers for Cyprus Peace Talks, Congo, and Syria (January 12, 2017)

“I waited patiently for the Lord.  He lifted me out of the mud and mire, he set my feet upon a rock.  He put a new song in my mouth.”  (Psalm 40:1-3) God, awaken us to a new year.  Awaken us also to a new spirit, a new will, even a new way. As we […]

Steal Into Our Hearts, O Holy Child: A Christmas Prayer for Every Nation on Earth (December 28, 2016)

Steal into our hearts, O Holy Child. Steal into the aching places, the lonely places, the lost places; Steal into the joy-filled places, the delight-filled places. Steal into our hearts, and fill them with tenderness and love. Steal into our nations, O Holy Child. Steal into the power-hungry and the powerless; Steal into the peace-makers and the […]

Lord, Help Us: A Prayer for Voters and Elections from the USA to Zimbabwe (August 25, 2016)

“Give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” ~ 1 Kings 3:9 Lord, help us. We mean that earnestly, sincerely, indeed prayerfully, not as an epithet. We are not taking your name in vain, we […]

God of Earth and Heaven, Protect Both: A Prayer for Creation and Against Religious Arrogance (June 2, 2016)

The Earth is Lord Jehovah’s in its fullness, the world and all its inhabitants.                                                                                                   ~ Ps 24:1  Aramaic Bible in Plain English Behold, to Yahweh your God belongs heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth, with all that is therein.                                                                                                  ~Deuteronomy 10:14  World English Bible   God of earth and heaven protect […]

To Proclaim Release to the Captives: Prayers for Yazidi Women Held by ISIS and a Warming World (January 21, 2016)

Jesus, in the synagogue, read “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s […]

With Persecutions: A Prayer for Christians Killed Near Aleppo and for Quiet Acts of Mercy (October 9, 2015)

Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God.” … “Truly I tell you there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not […]

Act With Justice, Love Mercy: Prayers After the Sanaa Mosque Bombing and the Sumatra Fires (September 24, 2015)

“Now Israel, what does the LORD your God desire from you? Only this: fear him, walk in all his ways, love him, serve him with all your heart and in all your life.  Deuteronomy 10: 12 (NIV) The Lord has shown you what is good. He has told you what he requires of you. You […]

That We Might Be One: A Prayer Confessing Our Disunity Across Creed, Race, and Doctrine (May 14, 2015)

Dear God, “Lord have mercy,” we often cry out. “Christ have mercy,” we hasten to add, as if knowing how much we wound your loving spirit.  We know the best challenges you have given us when you dared us to love our enemies, to be perfect, to forgive 70 times 7, and to turn the […]