World in Prayer

Sharing in God’s loving compassion for all

How Long, O Lord: Prayers for the Rohingya, Abuse Survivors and Earthquakes in Venezuela and Iran (August 30, 2018)

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Psalm 13:1-2 (NRSV) How long, O Lord? Our hearts and […]

God of Tender Souls Clinging: Prayers for the Kerala Floods, Besieged Ghazni, and Wildfires (August 23, 2018)

God of compassion God of green earth and snow God of darkness And illumination God of new things And of things torn apart God of waters and maker of dry land God of tender souls clinging God in this moment and across all sunrises and the universe Help us to understand our place in this […]

Your Wings Enfolding Us: Prayers for the Yemen School Bus Attack, the Lombok Earthquake, and Gaza (August 8, 2018)

Holy One, our lives push us forward each day, distracting and distressing us. We move through the motions and meet the demands laid out before us. We have many priorities and not enough time. We make decision after decision that pulls our attention away from you. Yet, you are here. We declare this; we believe […]

On God Alone I Wait Silently: Prayers for Wildfires, Water Shortages and Refugees (August 2, 2018)

On God alone I wait silently; God my deliverer, God my strong tower. Paraphrase from Ps. 62, John L. Bell* When all efforts have been made to cope with natural disasters: the earthquake in Lombok, Indonesia; the wildfires in California, USA, Sweden, Siberia, Russian Federation, Greece, water shortages in Yemen, the UK, Syria, Kenya; On God alone I wait silently; God my deliverer, God […]

A Liturgy of the Hours: Prayers After the Iran Earthquake and the Rancho Tehama School Shooting (November 16, 2017)

Note: The writer this week is using the framework of the Liturgy of the Hours (Opus Dei i.e. Work of God) so sanctifying the day with prayer.   The one who made the Pleiades and Orion,     and turns deep darkness into the morning, and darkens the day into night, who calls for the waters of […]

A Reformation Litany at 500 Years: Prayers for Disaster Recovery, Iceland’s Forests, and Raqqa (October 26, 2017)

A 500th Anniversary Reformation Litany (Adapted from the writings of Lutheran reformers) Note:  31 October 2017 marks 500 years since the monk and priest Martin Luther nailed a series of statements calling for reform in the Catholic church to the door of the city church in Wittenberg, Germany.  This action unwittingly set off the German […]

Jesus Wept: A Prayer From the Earthquake Ruins of Mexico and the Storm-Battered Caribbean (September 21, 2017)

“Jesus Wept” Oh, Lord… Oh, Lord.  Every bone in our body, every tear in our eye, every drop of blood in our heart, cries to You. We are not fools, O Lord.  We are certain that others despaired in their time.  But this is our time, O Lord. So hear, and forgive, the desperation of […]

Come and See: A Prayer After Barcelona, Charlottesville’s Aftermath, and the Ischia Earthquake (August 24, 2017)

  The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from […]

Because the Media Is Silent: Advent Prayers for Aleppo, Yemen, and Earthquake Zones (December 28, 2016)

We have come to worship you, Shepherd of Israel.  Out of the busy-ness we create for ourselves at this season, we come to remember why.   We give thanks for the bravery of Mary, for the courage of Joseph,  and we ask that these qualities support us in the face of overwhelming commercialization and the rewriting of […]