World in Prayer

Sharing in God’s loving compassion for all

Lord of the Dance: After the Seoul Crowd Crush and Uganda’s Ebola Outbreak (November 3, 2022)

Sandhill cranes dancing at sunset at Staten Island Rd. Preserve, Northern California. Photo art by a member of the World in Prayer team. Dance, then, wherever you may be,I am the Lord of the Dance, said he,And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be,And I’ll lead you all in the Dance, said he. –Sydney […]

The Mystery of Your Mercy: Prayers After Hurricane Ian and for Somalia on the Edge of Famine (October 6, 2022)

Elohim, I AM, Jehovah, your names are numerous, our understanding of you, limited. When the horror of humanity confounds us, we place our hope in the mystery of your mercy. We cling to noble acts witnessed in the context of war; healing acts worked in the context of brokenness; justice that breaks through in an […]

The Chaos Before Creation: A Prayer for Iran’s Protests and Hurricane Ian (September 29, 2022)

Holy One, We feel the chaos before creation in the very core of our being. The changing tides – first swelling with hope  then sliding toward despair. Waves of grief crash over us, shaking the foundations of our lives. We are buoyed with anticipation excited by what the future holds. Our focus is drawn inward to […]

Let All Who Thirst Come to the Water: A Prayer in a Time of Drought (September 8, 2022)

Holy One, there is a song haunting me lately. An evocative melody. A single soprano invokes, “Oh let all who thirst, let them come… to the water.” The first time I heard it, I wept. And lately I hear it often. Unsummoned, it echoes within my soul; a lament in layers of drought. Source of […]

Let Divine Light Shine: Prayers for Ukraine, Pakistan’s Floods, and Europe’s Drought (September 1, 2022)

As God’s beloved children, let us pray that Divine Light shine on the nations, the earth, and all those in need. For your beloved in war torn areas around the globe, and for areas like Ukraine and Palestine, where foreign occupiers are forcefully controlling villages and territories, we pray for peaceful paths toward justice; For […]

Take Your Bible and Take Your Newspaper: Prayers for Myanmar, Nicaragua, and a Thirsting Europe (August 25, 2022)

Creator God, Guided by the words of your servant German pastor Karl Barth, “Take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible,” we beseech you for the protection of members of our world community: For a universal water supply that is free of PFAS, forever chemicals.  Guide the […]

Take Heart: A Prayer for Those Who Dread the News, from Church Shootings to Earthquakes (June 23, 2022)

Dearly beloved Children of God, Do you sometimes wake not to prayer, but to dread, fearing what new horror will show up in the news? Afraid even to go to church, after this week’s news of three killed in a mass shooting at an Episcopal church in Alabama, U.S., and two priests shot dead at […]

Help Us to Set Down Our Weapons: Prayers for Eastern Congo and Asylum Seekers (June 16, 2022)

O Holy One, We think we are listening to you. We are really practicing listening to you. We have a long way to go — to do your will. To love ourselves. To love our neighbor. To Love You. We get distracted — so much is going on around us and worldwide. We have so […]

Eternal God, Love’s Trinity: A Prayer for the Cost of Living, Fossil Fuels, and Hunger in Madagascar (June 9, 2022)

Eternal God. . . Love’s trinity, self perfect, self sustaining; Love which commands, enables and obeys. . . We praise and thank you that you love and care for all people. In your love enable us to hear what you say and obey your command to love one another. In love of one another we […]