World in Prayer

Sharing in God’s loving compassion for all

We Thirst for You: Advent Prayers After the Colombia Plane Crash and Tropical Storm Otto (December 28, 2016)

O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will […]

Guide Us in Truth and Love: Prayers for Mosul, Standing Rock, and a Divided America (December 28, 2016)

On Sunday after Sunday in our worship we sing:             Worthy is Christ, the Lamb who was slain,             Whose blood set us free to be people of God.             Power and riches, wisdom and strength,             And honor and blessing and glory are his.  And with these words in mind this day, we pray […]

Lord, In Your Mercy: Prayers for Mosul, Aleppo, Hurricane Matthew, and Thailand (December 28, 2016)

Once again, Lord, the voice of the prophets remains strikingly relevant through the centuries.  Joel 2:24-25a reminds us that: The threshing floors shall be full of grain, the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. I will repay you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten.  As we pray for people who are […]

Pray Without Ceasing: Prayers for Aleppo, the Dalit Marches in India, and Calais (December 28, 2016)

Pray without ceasing…Becoming more infused with the nature and Spirit of God as we pray… Taking on the attributes of God as we become one with him beyond our earthly limits of time and space… Lord as Jacob (Israel) struggled and demanded a blessing from his opponent at Peniel, may we persist and demand your gifts […]

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 […]

Bad Deeds Have Consequences: Prayers After the Aleppo Aid Convoy Strike and Police Shootings (September 22, 2016)

“The Bible says little about the temperature of hell nor the furniture of heaven”. This quote from the great German theologian Reinhold Niebuhr fits in with the story of the rich man and Lazarus where we are made aware of the dangers of being mean with our money and uncharitable to others. This is echoed […]

Seek the Peace of the City: Prayers for the Colombia Ceasefire and Italy’s Earthquake Dead (September 1, 2016)

In an ancient time, our spiritual forebears were conquered and exiled. And the prophet Jeremiah wrote them a letter about how to deal with their calamities. In the various spirits with which those banished people listened to his letter read out, we open ourselves to you in prayer, O God. Jeremiah, speaking for you, told […]

Lord, Have Mercy: Prayers for Libya, Syria, Nauru’s Detained Refugees, and the Legacy of Jo Cox (June 23, 2016)

Violent protests, burning and looting in Pretoria, South Africa, over mayoral election… Foreign supporters of ISIS have taken over Sirte, Libya, murdering, torturing, crucifying Muslims and Christians… Russian fighters are dropping cluster bombs in Syria, indiscriminately endangering and killing civilians and children as well as fighters… Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Violence and hatred […]

Attune Us to Your Presence: A Prayer for Aleppo, Child Brides, and Children Taken by ISIS (June 9, 2016)

God, of surprises, Christ of the unexpected acts of love and compassion, Holy Spirit blowing where You will – we come to worship and be in Your presence. So often all the words we use in our services and prayers inadvertently block us from being open to Your coming. In the still small voice as […]