For me, the gift of Advent and December is space to acknowledge endings and beginnings, to look back on the year, and to see everything we’ve lived through. 2024 brought an election cycle, massive hurricanes, and systemic failures alongside the regular rhythms of life. At the Outlook, we know statistically and anecdotally that people turn to us when looking for the words to say. Our worship resources and prayers are, week over week, our most popular offerings. We take this to heart and do our best to offer prayers when it feels like there is nothing new to say. We call these “prayers for the moment,” and our most referenced offerings during 2024 are listed below.
As we reflect on the past year, we invite you to join us in revisiting the prayers that resonated most deeply, offering comfort, hope, and a call to action in times of need. God has been with us and will continue to walk alongside us in the new year.
A prayer for peace and justice on Election Day
Join us in prayer for peace, dignity, kindness, and justice on election. — Teri McDowell Ott
A Thanksgiving prayer (When we’re tired of giving thanks)
Gratitude is the season’s theme, but what if we are not feeling it? Elizabeth Doolin offers a prayer for when thanksgiving is hard to come by.
Prayer for students taking exams
As we enter final exam season, Nadine Ellsworth-Moran offers a prayer for the test takers and paper writers.
A prayer before a presidential debate
A prayer for peace, a prayer for perspective by Erin Weber-Johnson and Mieke Vandersall.
A Thanksgiving benediction
Katy Shevel offers a benediction to use in a Thanksgiving worship service or over your Thanksgiving meal.
A prayer for veterans
Daniel Heath offers a prayer for veterans, especially those residing and working at a Veterans Administration Hospital.
A prayer for the Baltimore bridge collapse
Early on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, a container ship crashed into a 1.5-mile bridge in Baltimore, Maryland. Several vehicles fell into the waters below. — Teri McDowell Ott
A back-to-school prayer for congregations
Elizabeth H. Doolin pens a call-and-response prayer for children, caregivers, teachers and all those who living through back-to-school days.
We say and pray her name: Sonya Massey
Sonya Massey was a 36-year-old woman from Illinois who was fatally shot by police when she called them for help. Teri McDowell Ott offers a prayer in response to this tragedy.
A blessing for picking up the pieces
Blessed are you, who pick up the pieces: who gather sticks and saw down limbs, who drag away the broken branches and rake up what you can amid chaos … — Eliza Smith DeBevoise
Want to receive prayers like these in your inbox on Mondays? Sign up here.
