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 October 29 – November 4: Canada and The United States of America
Breath of the Four Winds
Come from the four winds, O Breath,
And breathe upon these slain, that they may live. (Ezekiel 37:9)
Come from the South, O Breath,
blow your life-giving promise of hope
to our sisters in ponchos, Mothers of the Disappeared, political prisoners and exiles.
Come from the South and breathe justice that they may live.
Come from the North, O Breath,
blow your Word, in Spirit and truth,
to our brothers and sisters who have lost their languages in residential schools.
Come from the North and speak freely, so there may be healing.
Come from the East, O Breath,
blow your message of peace
to children in countries shattered by war and division.
Come from the East with morning’s promise of a new day.
Come from the West, O Breath,
blow in the tongues of fire in the sky at the setting of the sun.
We are your church, kindled in your Spirit, fired in the mystery of your coming.
Come from the West and pray in us, Holy Spirit, our ending and our beginning.
(Wendy MacLean, United Church of Canada)
Percentage of the population of these countries living below the national poverty line:
Canada: 9.4
United States of America: 12.7
Source: World Bank World Development Indicators as found in the 2017 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.
