For Those Who Without Home or Country :: Prayer

June 20 was World Refugee Day. In case you missed it or want to highlight refugees, immigrants, and others who are displaced this week, following is a pastoral prayer based on Psalm 107. May God hear our prayers and the cries of those in need.

“Give thanks to the LORD
because he is good,
because his faithful love
lasts forever!”

That’s what those who are redeemed
by the LORD say,
the ones God redeemed
from the power of their enemies,
the ones God gathered
from various countries,
from east and west, north and south. – Psalm 107:1-3 (CEB)

Lord, we come before you with thankful hearts for you are good and your steadfast love endures forever. As those redeemed, we give you praise, and we bring our prayers to you.

God of all nations, your love extends from the east to the west, from the north to the south. All peoples belong to you. In the same way we are gathered here, we pray for those in need of gathering. We lift up the over 70 million forcibly displaced persons in the world today. 

For those wandering in the desert places, finding no place to inhabit, we pray for their safe arrival to places of shelter. Endow them with the strength necessary to reach places of refuge. Provide them food and water. Encourage them so they do not lose hope.

For those who sit in darkness and gloom, finding themselves interned or otherwise detained, we pray that they will soon find release. May they be provided with resources and translators who can help them make their way. Provide a light in the darkness so they do not lose courage.

For those diminished and brought low by trouble and sorrow, finding only parched lands and unwelcoming faces, we pray that you would bring forth water on a thirsty ground. Remove fear and replace it with hopefulness. May their pain be seen and understood and be met with mercy. We ask that you keep families together so that they might strengthen and love one another. For families separated at border, refugee camps, and shelters, may you reunite them again.

Lord, we come before you with thankful hearts for you are good and your steadfast love endures forever. May we be instruments of your goodness and love, offering care and aid in response to such suffering.

As a sign of your desire to gather your varied peoples together, we join our voices using the varied words we know of the prayer Jesus taught us, saying: Our Father…

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June is the one-year anniversary of my book Prayers for the People: Scriptural Based Prayers for Worship. To celebrate, I’m offering a booklet of prayers of adoration and confession if you buy my book in the coming month. Just message me a copy of your receipt, and I will send it to you.