The United Nations’ World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is observed every year on June 17. This year’s observance will be hosted in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the Lord will answer them, I the God […]
Breathe and Behold: Prayers for Cape Town and Flint’s Water, Syria’s Siege, and Winter Olympians (February 8, 2018)
Holy One, We keep scrolling through the news, forever flicking from catastrophe to exhilaration to trauma, over and over and over again. Make us stop. Force us to take a break. Teach us how to breathe. Show us how to behold–rather than barrel through–your world. We pray that we might take a break and breathe […]
May Your Mind Be in Us: Prayers After the Mocoa Landslide, Peru’s Floods, and Syria’s Gas Attack (April 6, 2017)
The Scottish theologian, William Barclay, suggested using ‘the mind of God’ instead of ‘the Word’ for Jesus. And so John 1:1, 2-5, 14 reads In the beginning was the mind of God,… 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was […]
A New Heaven and a New Earth: Prayers for Syrian Refugees Lost at Sea and for Flint’s Water (April 21, 2016)
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away… Revelation 21:1 There are days and times, Holy God, when our wish for a new earth is almost overwhelming; days and times when, as we look around this old earth, we can see only […]
Lead Us Not into Temptation: Prayers for Syria, Mexico’s Prison Riot, and Taiwan’s Earthquake (February 11, 2016)
Our Father in heaven, lead us not into temptation. Help us to recognize the temptations that surround us, the subtle snares that, on their face, seem good: The temptation to use violence and force to achieve peace and gentleness; The temptation to see our perspective as truth and others as heresy; The temptation to believe […]
Prayers of Contrast: Bombings in Istanbul and Jakarta, and Flint’s Poisoned Water (January 14, 2016)
Your love is steadfast, O Lord, but how fickle we are. We are never satisfied. In our dissatisfaction we destroy that which we do not understand and devastate that which satisfies as if there is never enough. Our prayers are prayers of contrast as we recognize political, financial and economic pressures are very different across […]
Made in the Image of God: A Prayer Against Hatred of the Other and for Those Who Welcome Refugees (July 23, 2015)
Do we believe we are made in the image of God, or is our God made in our very finite image?” –Rhoda C. Martin “God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working […]
Free to Be Children: Prayers for Freed Child Soldiers in South Sudan and Mexico’s Missing Students (January 29, 2015)
He cried out, “I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” Mark1:24b (NRSV) Surrounded by the presence of the Holy One of God, let us pray together. Holy One, we gather in worship this morning seeking your presence, your grace and your wisdom. Humbly we gather to hear your words of hope and […]
Teach Us Patience: A Prayer for Clean Water, the West African Ebola Outbreak, and Talks on Ukraine (April 10, 2014)
Loving God, by your grace teach us patience – and renewed hope when we face such disappointments as: the failure to date to address human rights abuses in Syria; the failure of any sub-Saharan African country to meet Millennial Development Goals of cutting in half the number of people not having access to clean water […]
Our Coming In and Our Going Out: A Prayer for Flight MH370, Cyclone Lusi, and Japan Three Years On (March 13, 2014)
Lord, our creator who neither slumbers nor sleeps; Lord, our protector, guide and help, be in our coming in prayer and our going out to the world in compassion. This week is the 25th anniversary of the World Wide Web, giving us such a great ability to know more about our world and to share with […]