Lord, we come before you Prayer is communication that invites at-one-ness with You, the source of our being. We call you God, and as revealed in the flesh, Jesus. We ask for empowerment. Transform us with the life-giving force of the Holy Spirit. Make us channels of the your Eternal Love, Light, and Grace. Help us to […]
There Is a Balm in Gilead: Prayers After the Kabul Bombings and the Nigeria Mosque Attack (May 3, 2018)
There is a balm in Gilead To make the wounded whole; There is a balm in Gilead To heal the sin-sick soul. (African American spiritual) O God, when our hearts are breaking, when our souls are wounded, to whom else shall we turn? Where else shall we bring our prayers, our concerns, our woundedness, our confusion, […]
Perfect Love Casts Out Fear: A Toronto Officer, a Hyderabad Priest and a Montgomery Memorial (April 26, 2018)
“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 “Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love […]
Entertain Angels Unaware: Remembering Barbara Bush and Winnie Mandela, and Praying for Our Leaders (April 19, 2018)
We call ourselves to remember, dear God, that you are one. We call you to hear our prayer as we struggle for focus. Our world, your world, changes so drastically. We pray for the immediate survivors of the deaths of the famous, like Barbara Bush in the United States and Winnie Mandela in the Republic […]
An Aftermath Prayer: Remembering Hurricanes, Refugees and a Martyr Fifty Years On (April 5, 2018)
An Aftermath Prayer (Luke 24:32-33) Holy God, You defeated doubt and death on Easter morning. You turned the world of what is possible and impossible upside down. You gave us Resurrection. Now comes the aftermath. In the aftermath of many things in life we often fail to follow through with our joy, our intentions, our […]
Show Us the Next Right Step: Prayers for Sri Lanka, Syria, Yemen, and School Shooting Survivors (March 8, 2018)
Holy One, When we want to linger in shadows, you expose us to light. When we want to slump into a corner, you lift us up in your presence. When we think our words, our actions, our lives have no effect, you remind us that we are leading people in surprising and unexpected ways. So […]
This Is the Day the Lord Has Made: Prayers After the Egypt Church Bombings and Stockholm Attack (April 13, 2017)
This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24 We are stumbling on our way toward the day of Resurrection, gracious God. Stumbling and falling, sometimes crawling on our knees toward the cross, hoping that when we lift our tear-filled eyes, it will be empty, […]
Lord, Have Mercy: A Prayer for South Sudan, Kidnapped Children in Ethiopia, and Syria (March 16, 2017)
Lord, have mercy, Christ, have mercy, Here and there and everywhere in between, On you and me and everyone in between, Now and later and upon everything in between. Lord Christ, we need your mercy. The suffering in South Sudan echoes the horrors of civil war, genocide and ethnic cleansing that mock the hope of […]
Extremists for Love: Prayers on Martin Luther King Day for Refugees, Nigeria, and Flight MH370 (January 19, 2017)
At first I was rather disappointed that fellow clergymen would see my nonviolent efforts as those of the extremist. … But as I continue to think about the matter I gradually gained a bit of satisfaction from being considered an extremist. Was not Jesus an extremist in love – “Love your enemies, bless them that […]
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 […]