Gracious Lord,
When war and violence surround
Your people,
When death is on every side
And man has ceased to be his
brother’s keeper,
Our times are in Your hands.

When disease stalks the land, 
A pestilence that strikes without warning,
When sickness and sorrow fill the air,
Our times are in Your hands. 

When disaster has descended upon us,
Storm, tempest and earthquake,
Floods, drought and locusts,
Our times are in Your hands. 

When famine ravages the barren earth,
When food is gone and children cry 
for bread,
When hunger and starvation are all they 
know,
Our times are in Your hands. 

When persecution is on every side, 
When family and friends reject 
and betray,
When authorities punish even to death,
Gracious Lord,
keep Your people faithful.

When Your hand of judgment is heavy
upon us
For our many sins, which we
acknowledge and repent,
Then, in Your wrath, remember mercy.
Gracious Lord, forgive us.


Photo by Nothing Ahead

Dr Patrick Sookhdeo is the International Director of Barnabas Fund and the Executive Director of the Oxford Centre for Religion and Public Life.