Creator God, This year has been different. We know you don’t need us to tell you that – but it helps to get it off our minds and you have broad shoulders to carry our burden. Easter was different, Eid and Diwali, too. And now Thanksgiving and next it will be Christmas. We know people’s […]
A Rock in a Weary Land: A Lenten Prayer for Hope, Faith, and Love (February 27, 2020)
Jesus is a rock in a weary land, A weary land, a weary land; My Jesus is a rock in a weary land, A shelter in the time of storm. African American spiritual God of forgiveness and mercy, God of grace and truth, we enter this season of Lent with both gratitude and trepidation. Evidence […]
Sure on This Shining Night: A Christmas Prayer for Every Nation on Earth (December 19, 2019)
Christmas 2019 Sure on This Shining Night – Concordia Choir Sure on this shining night Of starmade shadows round, Kindness must watch for me This side the ground. The late year lies down the north. All is healed, all is health. High summer holds the earth. Hearts all whole. Sure on this shining night I […]
Lord in Your Mercy: Prayers for Yemen, the Uighurs, and Migrant Graves in Texas (July 11, 2019)
Lord in your mercy Hear our prayer Lord, there is so much happening in our world we hardly know where to direct our attention and can only be grateful that you see all and answer the prayers of all your people. So we place in your hands our concerns for our environment from the high […]
A Song of Peace for Their Land and for Mine: A Fourth of July Prayer for All Nations (July 4, 2019)
“My Country ‘Tis of Thee Sweet Land of Liberty of Thee I Sing” (Hymn, Samuel Francis Smith) Holy God, I write from my little corner of the world, my little neighborhood of my native land, the United States, celebrating its birth. You have heard the fun, fireworks explosions from sea to shining sea. You […]
Renew Our Strength: A New Year Prayer for Yemen, Separated Families, and Indonesia’s Tsunami Dead (January 3, 2019)
Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:30-31 Heavenly God, How can we ever thank you? How can […]
Love Came Down at Christmas: A Blessing for Every Nation on Earth (December 28, 2018)
Love. Love, said poet Christina Rossetti, “Love came down at Christmas.” Love spoke to Mary in the voice of the angel Gabriel. Love said: “Fear not.” Fear not, when you have seen a vision of hope and glory, healing and joy that transcends the universe. Fear not when you are called to be the bearer of […]
A Miracle of More Than Enough: A Thanksgiving Prayer for the Migrant Caravan and California Fires (November 15, 2018)
Thanksgiving Prayer “Oh, may this bounteous God through all our life be near us, With ever joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us; And keep us in His grace, and guide us when perplexed; And guard us through all ills in this world, till the next!” (verse 2, “Now Thank We All Our God,” […]
When Headlines Do Not Tell the Whole Story: A Prayer for the Billions Who Call This Planet Home (October 18, 2018)
The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it; for he has founded it on the seas, and established it on the rivers. Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? Those who have clean hands […]
The Darkness Has Never Overcome the Light: Prayers for Nigeria Floods and Zimbabwe Cholera (September 20, 2018)
“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” – 1 Corinthians 11:26 We come before you today, O God, a mixture of emotions, with a plethora of experiences. Guide our hearts as we look on this world in which we live, so that we […]