A World AIDS Day Prayer

This morning, I joined many other folks from our community for the annual World AIDS Day Prayer Breakfast hosted by my friends at the Mosaic Initiative...it was great to hear two of our WA alums who are now students at Wheaton College connect their Zambia trip experiences with the need to care for, promote prevention, and offer hope for those infected and affected by AIDS around the globe and in our own community...and I loved the prayer we said together asking God to be deeply involved in the AIDS issue...here it is and may it remind you to care for the millions affected by this disease on this day and the days and years to come...


We ask that you, whose nature it is to always have mercy, to forgive us for our failures in the fight against HIV/AIDS, for the negative things we have done and for the things we have left undone...Lord, hear us...

We pray for those afflicted with HIV. We ask for their healing and for their freedom from stigma. Grant them the courage to live each day anew...Lord, hear us...

Lord, we pray for those communities hit hardest by HIV, at home and abroad, especially those living with HIV who have no access to health care...Lord, hear us...

We pray for the millions of children who have lost parents to AIDS. Grant them protection, education, and people in their lives to love and support them...Lord, hear us...

We pray for our leaders--for those in Illinois, in Washington, and in the rest of the world. We ask that they would be more receptive to AIDS issues....Lord, hear us...

We pray for DuPage county, that we would not ignore our responsibility to those in the world suffering with AIDS, especially those in our midst. We pray for the grace and the humility to respond charitably and compassionately and the courage to respond boldly and quickly to do what it takes to stop the spread of AIDS...Lord, hear us...