Bread for the World believes prayer is central to the work of ending hunger by 2030. Hunger happens in every corner of the world. In this blog series, we will provide a prayer for a different group of countries each week and their efforts to end hunger.
This prayer series will follow the Ecumenical Prayer Cycle, a list compiled by the World Council of Churches that enables Christians around the world to journey in prayer through every region of the world, affirming our solidarity with Christians all over the world, brothers and sisters living in diverse situations, experiencing their challenges and sharing their gifts.
We will especially be lifting up in prayer the challenges related to hunger and poverty that the people of each week’s countries face. In prayer, God’s story and our own story connect — and we and the world are transformed. In a prayer common to all of us — the Lord’s Prayer/the Our Father — we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” This line from this prayer can also be a prayer for the end of hunger.
We invite you to join Bread in our prayers for the world’s countries to end hunger. And we encourage you to share with us your prayers for the featured countries of the week or for the end of hunger in general.
For the Week of Oct. 25-31: Indian Ocean Islands: Comoros, Madagascar, Maldives, Mauritius, and Seychelles
Our heavenly Father,
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we glorify you,
we give thanks to you,
for in your infinite mercy you extended your family
to include the islands of the sea,
even islands at the end of the earth:
Comoros, Madagascar, Maldives, Mauritius and Seychelles.
We praise your name
for you moved your Holy Spirit
who stirred and sustained
a century-long revival movement in Madagascar,
an awakening to your power that brought transformation, reconciliation,
healing and empowerment.
We magnify your name
for through this revival the different denominations have discovered
a spirit-filled way to come to a unity in diversity.
Lord of the church,
we pray that the churches be strengthened in their spirituality,
one that would powerfully engage them
in a priestly and prophetic way in the midst of their local contexts.
Strengthen the churches to recover their sight
and so to resist overt and covert manipulation
in the political arena,
from either government officials or politicians.
God of all creation and nature, we pray for the inhabitants of these islands,
that they may be spared the devastation of cyclones or typhoons
with the open seas lashing every year against the coastal areas,
causing suffering and loss for the population.
(© 2005 Péri Rasolondraibe, Antananarivo, Madagascar.)
Percentage of the population of these countries living below the national poverty line (2014 figures):
- Comoros: Not available
- Madagascar: 75.3
- Maldives: Not available
- Mauritius: Not available
- Seychelles: Not available
Source: World Bank World Development Indicators as found in the 2015 Hunger Report.
Prayer is a central part of Bread for the World’s work. Learn more about how you can get involved with prayer at Bread.
Photo: Village near Ambalandingana, Madagascar. Bernard Gagnon/Wikimedia Commons.
