These prayers were written by the whole of the YF when asked to think about harvest and the environment prior to the Global Climate Strike last Friday that some of our congregation attended. The young church lead the wonderful, thought provoking powerful all age service.
Jesus, bread of life, teach us to appreciate all the talents we have and use them faithfully to connect with your church worldwide; open our hearts and minds to develop the talents we have and to discover new things we can bring for the building up of Christ’s body in service to the world.
Lord of creation hear our prayers
Generous God, at this harvest time we thank you for all the good things you give us. As we thank you for our food, we remember all those who do not have enough. We give thanks for the harvest donations today for the foodbank and the time, money and talents of those working to provide food for the people who need it most. We pray for farmers, fishermen and all those who work in the food industry; we give thanks for their work in yielding the crops God provides. We especially consider our oceans and seas that provide a great harvest and make up 71% of our world. We haven’t given it the respect it deserves, and man-made pollution threatens this delicate but wonderful eco- system. We pray for local farmers and that more of us shop local when we can to reduce food miles and limit the use of plastic packaging. Lord, bless all those who suffer because of the greed of others. Help us to share the harvests of the world more fairly, so everyone can be fed and there will be no more starvation.
Lord of creation hear our prayers
We thank God for the world God created for us and ask that the hearts and hands of all can be moved to be responsible stewards of the world we need to look after. We pray for all the human responsibility in the destruction of God’s creation and the impact of climate change experienced through natural disasters. We pray for those affected by forest fires and for the people that have had to leave their homes. We pray for the recent hurricane and devastation it caused. We pray for the climate emergency to be addressed as hurricanes are now lasting longer and more destructive as a direct result with 68% of extreme weather events in the last 20 years were made more likely or more severe by human-caused climate change.
Lord of creation hear our prayers
At this special thanksgiving time of the year we thank God for all creatures that inhabit the earth. We pray for the animals and living organisms that climate change impacts, wildlife populations have dropped by 60 per cent in just over 40 years; it’s their planet too! We pray for the animals that face extinction due to their habitats being destroyed. We pry for the bees and butterflies that play such an important role in our ecosystem that more natural meadows and flowers can be planted to save their habitat. We pray for the polar bears and penguins and that action can be taken before the temperature increases so high that the melting icecaps and water temperatures mean they will no longer be able to live and exist. We pray for the people, companies and organisations working to save them and raise awareness.
Lord of creation hear our prayers
We pray Governments and society can stand in solidarity to listen to the voices of its young people to support and take action from the climate strikes. It’ll affect our generation and the ones after us most. We pray for renewable energy and the reduction in dependence on fossil fuels that cause damage to environment and the air we breathe. We pray Scotland can meet or exceed the target of a 75% cut in emissions by 2030 and to be a net-zero society by 2045 made in the new Climate Change bill passed this week.
Lord of creation hear our prayers
We pray that businesses and organisations reduce the impact they have on the environment and lead the way in moving towards greener technology. We pray that companies find ways to use more renewable energy and ethical manufacture. We pray that retailers take a lead from the shift to ethical consumption and move away from single use plastic using less packaging as it is damaging to the environment. We pray companies continue to provide incentives to be more environmentally friendly like money off coffee for reusable mug and consumers continue to support this.
Lord of creation hear our prayers
We pray for education for all the worlds people to acknowledge the climate emergency and how they can make changes in their life to limit it. We pray God will open our minds that if we all make small changes, we can help save the planet we won’t save the world overnight, but we can maybe stop it from getting worse.
Lord of creation hear our prayers
We are conscious of so much that we get wrong. We give thanks too, for your grace and patience with us, when we fail to look after your world as we should. Help us to change so that we too become a new creation walking in the light of your Gospel. We pray for Holy Trinity Dunfermline and the diocese of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane that we can make positive changes for our community. At this harvest time we ask for your blessing on our families, friends and neighbours, and on those who are sick. May we follow Bishop Iain’s example and take a moment away from the political upheaval to focus on the world all our brothers and sisters share. Let us acknowledge the fruits of the harvest that we bring to this community our talents and gifts to create a welcoming home here. Please take a moment to reflect on our own gifts and those we know and love around us and the positive impact on our world.
Lord of creation hear our prayers
God of the Harvest, we thank you and praise your name for your creating, loving power. Give us insight to see your hand at work in our lives and enable us to taste the goodness which comes from knowing you in your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen