For What Shall We Pray? 3/15/2023
Prayer prompts:
For all who are anxious for their financial future after this week’s bank collapses and for keen and collaborative wisdom among those crafting policies in response…
For peace and protection for our transgender siblings, and especially transgender youth, as 41 state legislatures consider bills restricting and revoking their rights…
For a path forward and a renewed commitment to the common good amidst continued political partisan division in the United States and across the globe…
For people on the west coast of the United States, Australia, and Kenya who are living with extreme flooding; for those facing threat of sever storms on the east coast of the United States; and for victims of Cyclone Freddy in Malawi…
In thanksgiving for recently negotiated peace between Iran and Saudi Arabia…
For the people of El Salvador, living under a century of civil conflict…
For Muslim siblings preparing for Ramadan…
For all caregivers who provide for, educate, and nurture children…For all navigating news of pregnancy, expected or unexpected, and for their support systems…
Events and observances:
Women’s History Month (Month of March)
Ramadan (Islam, March 22-April 21)
Patrick, bishop, missionary to Ireland, died 461 (March 17)
Joseph, Guardian of Jesus (March 19)
Thomas Cranmer, Bishop of Canterbury, martyr, died 1556 (March 21)
Jonathan Edwards, teacher, missionary, died 1758 (March 22)
Oscar Arnulfo Romero, Bishop of El Salvador, martyr, died 1980 (March 24)
Annunciation of Our Lord (March 25)
Prayers from ELCA resources:
Responding to Turkey/Syria Earthquakes
Prayer Resources in Time of Earthquakes
A prayer for those facing affliction (ELW p. 84)
Lord Christ, you came into the world as one of us, and suffered as we do. As we go through the trials of life, help us to realize that you are with us at all times and in all things; that we have no secrets from you; and that your loving grace enfolds us for eternity. In the security of your embrace we pray. Amen.
A prayer for preservation and healing from exploitation (ACS p. 47)
Holy Spirit, you move through all creation with signs too deep for words. Open our hearts to listen to the cry of the earth and the cry of teh poor. Speak through your church to rebuke the forces that seek to exploit your planet. Join our human prayers with the voices of all creation and move us to honr you by preserving the gifts of nature that reveal your glory. Amen
“For What Shall We Pray?” is a weekly post inviting individuals, groups, and congregations to lift up our world in prayer. This resource is prepared by a variety of leaders in the ELCA and includes prayer prompts, upcoming events and observances, and prayer suggestions from existing denominational worship materials. You are encouraged to use these resources as a starting point, and to adapt and add other concerns from your local context. More information about this resource can be found here.
Additional topical prayers are found in Evangelical Lutheran Worship (pp. 72–87) and All Creation Sings (pp. 46–55), as well as in other resources provided in print and online at sundaysandseasons.com.
Crafted intercessions for every Sunday and festival are provided in the Sundays and Seasons worship planning guide published in-print and online by Augsburg Fortress.
Prayer Ventures, a daily prayer resource, is a guide to prayer for the global, social and outreach ministries of the ELCA, as well as for the needs and circumstances of our neighbors, communities and world.