World in Prayer

This week was my week to write the prayers for World in Prayer. I don't know if it's cheating or just a wise use of resources, but I used one of the prayers developed for the International Day of Prayer for Peace and inserted the specific topical prayers into it. The thing was, those prayers were lovely and I certainly wasn't going to come up with anything better.

So here are the prayers for this week, courtesy of some unnamed Christian in Tanzania. I hope you are nourished by them as much as I was.

These prayers were adapted from prayers written for the World Council of Church’s International Day of Prayer for Peace by a church in Tanzania. The International Day of Prayer for Peace is held on the same day as the UN International Day of Peace, September 21.

Our Lord and God Almighty,
we praise you,
for you created us all and made us
into many different tribes and nations,
that we may befriend one another
and that we may not despise each other.

We pray for the Church in all its many forms;
We pray for understanding and kindness between Christians and Muslims in the U.S. and around the world;
We pray for Israelis and Palestinians as their leaders continue to meet in peace talks;
We pray for those vilified or abused due to their race, class or clan;
We pray that we may learn from those who are different from us.
[silence]

Open our hearts, we pray,
so that we may respond to the needs
of all our brothers and sisters.

We pray for those affected by fires in Boulder, Colorado and San Bruno, California;
We pray for those affected by storms in Mexico and the Gulf Coast;
We pray for those affected by floods in Guatemala and Pakistan;
We pray for the Episcopal House of Bishops meeting in Arizona as they learn about immigration issues;
We pray for those meeting at the Millennium Development Goal summit in New York next week;
We pray for those whose needs we know and those whose needs are not known to us.
[silence]

Oh Lord Jesus, bless all our lands
with more lasting peace and fraternal understanding.

We pray for travelers, aid workers, missionaries, refugees, immigrants, and international students that they may promote peace and understanding.
[silence]

Above all, heavenly Father,
touch the hearts of our political leaders
and all those in power.
We pray that they may exercise power gently,
that they may humbly seek a disinterested dialogue
that will bring about understanding,
leading us all to a place where all nations and all people
live together in peace and harmony.

We pray for the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the President of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, as they continue peace talks;
We pray for the transitional government of Somalia, that it may resolve its internal conflicts and do the work it was selected to do;
We pray for all nations with upcoming elections: Guinea, Sweden, Venezuela, Latvia, Brazil, and Bosnia and Herzogovina;
We pray for the leaders of our nation, state, and city and those who live in them.
[silence]

Where there is bitterness teach us forgiveness and reconciliation,
replace hatred with love and indifference with care.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.