Prayers

Here are some simple suggestions, from Dave Bookless:

• • Firstly, we pray together, in and with creation, not just for creation. Scripture is clear that the whole creation prays without ceasing: rivers, mountains, birds, animals, even rocks can cry out! As we pray outdoors, in creation, we become aware of this orchestra of worship that constantly rises up to God. Our individual prayers are part of a great chorus, strengthened as we pray with other believers (online or in person), with creation, and with the great company of saints.

  • Next, we pray with lament, grief and weeping, especially amidst today’s climate crisis and the disappearance of precious biodiversity. Creation is groaning and God’s Spirit joins in with groans too deep for words (Romans 8). The Bible is full of lament and we join in, throwing ourselves on our faces before God, pleading and longing for his justice and salvation. Hope is born of the desperation of lament, knowing that God alone can change things.

  • Then, we pray with discernment, passion and persistence. Prayer is not a list of requests to a heavenly Santa Claus, nor a political agenda bracketed with ‘Dear Lord’ and ‘Amen’. It is a conversation with our loving, listening Father, where we implore using our minds, our hearts and our body language. As we pray, we listen for God’s Spirit prompting and changing our own ideas, We pray boldly, because we know we are connecting to the God before whom nations are like dust or drops of water (Isaiah 40:15).

  • Finally, we pray with adoration and expectancy. The early Christians in Rome, violently persecuted and living underground, are pictured in the catacombs standing with faces and palms upwards. We can rejoice, even in the midst of a creation in crisis, because God’s character and promises do not change, and Jesus’ resurrection guarantees future hope for the renewal of creation. Lifting our faces in worship, we receive the hope-fuelled vision we need to continue in prayer and action for God’s beloved and beleaguered creation.

From “The Pollinator: Prayer for God’s Creation”, December 2, 2020

Also consider to spend some time in a place of natural beauty. Be quiet and use all your senses to discover something you had never noticed before. Give God thanks for that thing. Meditate on Scripture and ask God to speak to you through something that you see, hear, feel or smell.

A Rocha International’s At Your Service resource collection offers the following prayer resources:

26 Prayers for the Climate and Ecological Emergency

A Prayer for the Oceans (in English and Brazilian Portuguese)

Climate Intercessors is a global network of people, from the west coast of North America to Australia and New Zealand, and from many Christian expressions who want to join together to pray the prayers commensurate to the reality and urgency of the climate crisis.

Monthly online prayer gatherings are held on the last Tuesdays, with multiple sessions to accommodate different time zones around the world.

Sign up for the monthly newsletters with devotional, updates, and event details.

Their Prayer Resources and Guides webpage includes various prayer guides and prayer collections.

A Rocha UK’s Eco Church resource pack has a useful guide on prayer for the creation.

There are some helpful tips from that guide, including:

• • We might pray for the earth on special occasions, such as Harvest Thanksgiving, or Creation Sunday.
  • Praying for the earth shouldn’t be a niche activity for a particular time or place, or for particular kinds of people (e.g., The ‘eco-faithful’). It should be an ‘ordinary’ and everyday part of the public and private prayers of all Christian people.
  • A benefit of using a prayer cycle – whether weekly, monthly or annually – is its combination of discipline and variety. It helps us to avoid the inclination not to respond, because we can’t decide what to do; or the temptation to keep returning to the same topics, while neglecting
    others; or the tendency to get stuck in a rut, with too narrow a focus.
  • Most forms of intercession in church tend to be divided into paragraphs on particular themes. A prayer for the earth could be inserted as a separate paragraph or integrated with praying for the nations of the world.

Pray and Fast for the Climate is a movement of Christians praying and fasting on the 1st of each month for climate justice. It started off in the UK, but now include people from Australia, Canada, Europe and the US, and is supported by members of the ‘Faith for the Climate’ network, including: A Rocha UK, The Baptist Union, Christian Aid, Christian Concern for One World, Climate Stewards, Commitment for Life, Green Christian, Hope for the Future, Operation Noah, Our Voices, The Quiet Garden Movement, SPEAK, Tearfund, The Church of England and its Shrinking the Footprint Programme, The Methodist Church, The United Reformed Church, and USPG.

Their Resources webpage provides monthly prayer points, and other useful prayer resources.

Laudato Si’ Movement offer some guide on Contemplation with Creation: Contemplation helps us to better hear creation’s song by opening us to gratitude and awe. Contemplation allows us to open to the cries of the earth and poor, by increasing our capacity to be with the suffering of others. Contemplation finally helps us to hear creation’s call to us to respond to the healing of our earth by quieting the mind to better discern what is ours to do.