Prayer for the World

Written by Lisa Parrott Oh Gracious God,

We come before you today both humbled by your grace and grateful for your mercy. 

You are our refuge and our strength. We exalt you.

As we continue to lean into the spiritual practices of gathering, praying, worshipping and

lamenting, we come to you with our concern for the world around us.  We know that this

earth is broken and fragile, prone to natural disasters like the recent earthquake in

Myanmar. In an instant, 1000s of lives were taken away and huge swaths of land all the

way to Thailand were destroyed.  We live in a time when people have taken up arms to

fight in anger, revenge or even in the cause of justice, like in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan and

the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Children in these places are frightened, Jesus. 

May you provide shelter and hope.  Even in our own state of North Carolina we have

seen mountains fall, waters roar and fires consume what we have carefully built.  In all

this, Lord, we pray that you hear the cry that rises from every corner of this fragile earth;

from those torn by violent conflict and those swept away in disaster.  We pray for you to

meet the suffering and to grant strength and wisdom to those who come alongside to

help.  We ask for rescuers, peacemakers and leaders who look beyond boundaries of

race, religion and nationality. We pray that we see the common humanity that makes all

of us your children, and brothers and sisters to one another.

May we today, right in this moment, be still and know that you are God.  You love us and

we pray that we shine that same love to the nations, starting here in this sanctuary.  We

praise you, knowing that you have given us each a part to play when our world is in

chaos.  You are our fortress and we come to you today to sing your praises.

In Jesus name we pray,

Amen