World In Prayer

It was my week for the World In Prayer prayers. I found it difficult to get the balance between acknowledging 9/11, which is on everyone's minds, and the many other things going on in the world. Here's what came out:

O Lord, our God, how glorious is your name in all the earth.

As we approach the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, we remember the pain we felt and the suffering that has echoed throughout our world since that time. In the jumble of emotions and stories and interpretations around us, give us the humility to recognize that we know only in part; comfort us with the faith that you fully know. Help us at all times to love.

Help us also to bear one another’s burdens. Open our eyes to the needs of our world today. Give us the courage to move onward, following you though you may seem to us only as a cloud.

As we pause in our wanderings to join with one another in prayer, let us call to mind the needs of the world.

We pray for Syria where Syrian forces have killed at least 28 people in response to continued popular protests.

We pray for Brazil where thousands of people joined anti-corruption demonstrations on their Independence Day.

We pray for Somalia where more than half the population is in crisis after the worst harvest in 17 years has led to famine.

In the United States, we pray for the state of Texas (US) where wildfires have destroyed more than 1500 homes and more than 175 fires have affected over 125,000 acres. We pray for those being evacuated from their homes due to flooding and heavy rains in Pennsylvania and New York.

We pray for India where an explosion in a courthouse in New Delhi killed at least 10 people and wounded more than 60.

We pray for Russia where a chartered plane carrying the members of a Kontinental Hockey League team crashed killing 43 people.

We pray for all those affected by the global financial crisis. We pray for Europe as its leaders continue to search for solutions to the debt crisis in the Eurozone and as people are impacted by those decisions. We pray for Australia whose unemployment rate rose to an unexpected high in August. We pray for all those who are looking for work.

We pray for all those who mourn; all those who suffer; all those who are sick; all those in want.

We pray, O God, you would fill us with compassion and guide us into all truth. May we remember you in all we do. May we find you in all places. May we see you in every person. May we be your light to the world.

Amen.