These prompts are provided for worship leaders as they prepare the prayers of intercession for weekly worship. The prompts are prepared by several leaders in the ELCA and reflect current world and national events. You are encouraged to adapt and add other concerns for your local context, including staying informed of events and concerns in your synod.
Intercession prompts:
For the new year…
For rescue workers and utility workers during winter storms and for all who suffered damages, cancellations, injuries, or deaths due to the extreme weather…
For those struggling to afford heat and electricity…
For teachers and students returning to school after the holidays…
For the women of Iran and Afghanistan and all fighting for gender justice…
For peace between North and South Korea….
For the aboriginal people of Australia enduring the desecration of sacred sites…
For those affected by the cholera outbreak in Haiti…
For those celebrating Christmastide, Yule, Kwanzaa, and all other winter holidays…
For peace in Ukraine and all countries torn apart by war…
Other notable events and observances:
Yule (December 21-January 1)
Kwanzaa (December 26-January 1)
New Year’s Day (January 1)
Name of Jesus (January 1)
Epiphany (January 1)
Suggested hymns & prayers:
Prayer for the day of Epiphany-alternate (ELW p. 21)
Almighty and ever-living God, you revealed the incarnation of your Son by the brilliant shining of a star. Shine the light of your justice always in our hearts and over all lands, and accept our lives as the treasure we offer in your praise and for your service, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Prayer in time of conflict, crisis, or disaster (ELW prayer book for the Armed Services)
O God, where hearts are fearful and constricted, grant courage and hope. Where anxiety is infectious and widening, grant peace and reassurance. Where impossibilities close every door and window, grant imagination and resistance. Where distrust twists our thinking, grant healing and illumination. Where spirits are daunted and weakened, grant soaring wings and strengthened dreams; in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Prayer for refugees, migrants, immigrants (ACS p. 51)
Holy God, as you have accompanied your people through times of captivity, wilderness, and exile, shelter and sustain all those who flee persecution, oppression, warfare, violence, hunger, and poverty. Open our hearts and homes, our gates and doors, so that they find safety, peace, and welcome—a place to live in freedom and without fear; through Jesus Christ, our refuge and our hope. Amen.
Hymns for the world
Wind and Cold Roar (ACS 1010)
Though the Earth Shall Change (ACS 1035)
When Our World Is Rent by Violence (ACS 1052)
ELW = Evangelical Lutheran Worship
ACS = All Creation Sings: Evangelical Lutheran Worship Supplement
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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.
Follow this link to access resources to assist worshiping communities as they respond to the crisis in Eastern Europe. Several prayers are provided that could be used during the prayers of intercession or at other times, in public worship or for devotional use at home or in other settings.
Further assistance for composing prayers of intercession can be found here: Resources for Crafting Prayers of Intercession
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.
