Prayer cycle

Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger

11 - 17 August 2024

A girl with a bowl balanced on her head — A bowl balanced on her head, a girl walks along a street in Timbuktu, the northern Mali city that was seized by Islamist fighters in 2012 and then liberated by French and Malian soldiers in early 2013. During the jihadist rule, women and girls were beaten if they went into public without being completely covered.

INTERCESSIONS

We are thankful for:

the heritage of ancient trade routes, rich oral traditions and nomadic practices of people in the lands these countries now occupy
humanitarian work to improve food security and livelihoods, especially for women
pro-active efforts to preserve the environment in these desert lands
welcome and provision for those who often must flee across borders.

We pray for:

those impoverished who lack basic needs and rights, that these will be met
desperate children and others who turn to crime or begging or become enslaved
effective response to the frequent droughts and hunger in this area
more stable political rule in these countries to stem violence and provide for all.

PRAYERS

God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Eternal God, we pray in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, for Mali, Chad, Niger, Mauritania and Burkina Faso.

We know that in our part of the world some people are getting carried away by hatred – people who are unable to think clearly, and turn furiously on the people whom you have placed in this part of the world to enjoy your creation and witness to you. We pray for girls and boys, women and men, children and adults, and the elderly, for you to grant them peace, your peace. In the name of Jesus Christ, Lord, change the hearts of all those who are carried away by hatred, that they may find in you the Hope of Salvation, and that they may become messengers of peace for ever.

We thank you, Lord, for you are faithful to your promise.
Glory and praise be given to you for ever and ever. Amen

(Pastor Kinda Tegwende Leonard/Sore Mahamoudou, Burkina Faso.)

Prayer for Mauritania

Your land, O Lord, is divided
and suffers from fighting between your children.

Injustices of all kinds, hatred and bitterness
are part of the daily life of the people.

Families seek reconciliation.
Tribes and ethnic groups need reconciliation and peace.

The country needs to be restored and reconciled with itself
in order to deal with its past.

The downtrodden still struggle to live a decent life.
The powerful continue to exploit the powerless and the voiceless.

Send your Holy Spirit to reveal your presence and might to all.

May your name be feared and judgment brought upon those
who continue to oppress the little ones.

Enter into hearts and lives and change them to become havens of love.

Prayer for Mali, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso and Mauritania

God, our Father, we bless you
for the gift of life that you grant us,
that strength of faith,
so fragile and so powerful,
which is nourished by the assurance of your love.
We pray to you, Lord,
for the sustenance of life for the people of these five countries,
Mali, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso and Mauritania.
Stir up the strength and courage of all those who are engaged
in lifting these countries out of poverty.