Dear Friends in Prayer, Did you ever have one of those sleepless nights? When, after three hours of perfectly wonderful, refreshing sleep, you are suddenly awake, wide awake, for no apparent reason? And when, despite watching a couple of shows on your Kindle Fire (or whatever you resort to during wakeful hours), your mind is […]
Anticipate the Coming Light: An Advent Prayer for Samoa’s Measles Outbreak and the Whakaari Eruption (December 12, 2019)
During this season of Advent, this season of waiting, we are called to anticipate the fulfillment of God’s reign. Advent is a chance for each one of us to practice the reign of God in the way we meet and treat one another. As we prepare for this time of prayer, let us anticipate the […]
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 […]
How Majestic Is Your Name: A Psalm 8 Prayer for Peacekeepers, Asylum Seekers and the Earth (November 22, 2018)
Note: Words in italics are from Ps 8 (NRSV) O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! As cosmologists view a “ghost galaxy” hidden in sight… You have set your glory above the heavens. As the UN tries to recruit more women to be Blue Helmets peacekeepers, Mali has the […]
Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying: For Volcanoes, Separated Families and Contested Elections (June 7, 2018)
(The hymn used in these prayers is “Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying” by Ken Medema) Lord, listen to your children praying, Lord, send your Spirit in this place; Lord, listen to your children praying, Send us love, send us pow’r, send us grace. Lord God, open our eyes to the power and promise of […]
Who Are My Mother and My Brothers: Thanks for Flying Doctors, Diplomats and Earth Scientists (May 31, 2018)
Jesus asked “Who are my mother and my brothers?” Lord Almighty, Son and Spirit, you who live in community know that we are always separate from one another but invite us into your family. You give us a way to live together for our mutual comfort and support. We give thanks for those, who understanding […]
A Litany of Blessings: After the Las Vegas Shooting, for Catalonia, the Kurds, and Bali (October 5, 2017)
A note from the writer of this week’s prayers: I really wrestled with what prayers to write today. Part of me – a LARGE part – wanted to rage at God: “If Jesus’ crucifixion, death and resurrection was supposed to end the power of evil and sin, your experiment has failed. Utterly. It’s time to […]
Who Is My Neighbor: A Sabbath Prayer for Kurdistan, Catalonia, Bali, and Vanuatu (September 28, 2017)
Ex 31:16 “The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant.”(NIV) Creator God, you give us every good and perfect gift. We celebrate the equinox so easily, the turning of the world and change of seasons, the seedtime and the harvest; our unique place in the […]
The Moment to Decide: Prayers for Colombia’s Peace Vote, Mexico’s Volcano, and Syria (October 6, 2016)
At the time of the Mexican war, often viewed as a practice war for the United States shortly before the American Civil War, the poet James Russell Lowell penned lines that still speak to us: Once to every man and nation, comes the moment to decide, In the strife of truth with falsehood, for the […]
In That Promise We Rest: Prayers for US Flooding, India’s Heat Wave, and a Japanese Volcano (May 28, 2015)
When reports come in of wars and rumored wars, keep your head and don’t panic. This is routine history; this is no sign of the end. Nation will fight nation and ruler fight ruler, over and over. Famines and earthquakes will occur in various places. This is nothing compared to what is coming. – Matthew […]