World in Prayer

Sharing in God’s loving compassion for all

Thou Lightest My Candle: Prayers After the Istanbul Nightclub Attack and for Karen Refugees (January 5, 2017)

Psalm 18:28 – Thou lightest my candle. The Lord my God enlightens the darkness. Dear Creator and Comforter, Oh, how we need your light and sustenance. We are reminded of the Holy Family that took flight 2000 years ago, and of the many exiles and refugees of today; we are reminded of the lowly and […]

The Real Work of Christmas: A Prayer at the End of 2016 for Syria’s Ceasefire (December 29, 2016)

Abba God, following the examples of the shepherds, wise men, Simeon and Anna and millions before us, we worship and adore you, giving thanks and praise. As the turbulence that was 2016 draws to a close, we pause on the cusp of what was, what is and what is to be… There is so much […]

Let Us Love One Another: A Prayer for Haiti’s Cholera Epidemic and a Divided World (December 28, 2016)

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 1 John 4:7 Beloved God, we see evidence throughout the world of how hard it is for some neighbors to love one another. We find continued difficulty in seeing You in each other. We […]

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 […]

The Lord Looks at the Heart: A Prayer for Yazidi Women, Hungry North Koreans, and Our Blindness (August 4, 2016)

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7, NIV Loving God, we pray today for the same instruction that you gave to Samuel: […]

Teach Us to Listen: A Prayer After the Attack in Nice and a Week of Violence (July 14, 2016)

There is a terrifying passage in ‘I and Thou’ by the Jewish mystic Martin Buber in which God says ‘I have sunk my hearing in the deafness of mortals’.  If this should be even partly true what a tremendous responsibility it places upon us to listen, to listen to each other with our whole attention, […]

Darkness in Our World and Hope for Your Light: An All Saints Prayer for South Sudan (October 29, 2015)

Gracious and Good God, we come towards All Saints’ Day with darkness in our world and with hope for your light.   We pray for the saints who have entered your kingdom who healed individuals and neighborhoods. We pray for those angels among us: those who feed the hungry, comfort the aggrieved, and love their neighbors. […]

Families Who Grieve Without Bodies to Bury: A Lenten Prayer for Oso and Flight MH370 (March 27, 2014)

As we stand with Jesus in the wilderness during this Lenten period, we pray for the whole world. For those fighting cancer: may they have support and access to quality medical care. For parents: may they be confident in their childcare and schools. For pregnant women and for those who are trying to build families: […]