Category: Prayers

Psalm 23 – another retelling

10th May 2025

Trust in the Lord and be doing good;  dwell in the land and be nourished with truth. Let your delight be in the Lord and he will give you your heart’s desire. Commit your way to the Lord and put your trust in him, and he will bring it to pass.  (Psalm 37:3-5)

You Lord are the bread of life;

feed us with your wisdom.

Our meat is to do the Father’s  will.

guide us in all we do.

Whenever we eat or drink

Let it be to the glory of God.

A reading from Micah 4:3-4

He shall judge between many peoples,
    and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away;
they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,
    and their spears into pruning-hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
    neither shall they learn war any more; but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees,
    and no one shall make them afraid;
    for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. 

A canticle based on Psalm 23


The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
   He makes me lie down in green pastures;

Year by year, the earth produces fresh food,  

enough to feed  10 billion people. 

He leads me beside still waters;
   he restores my soul.

River waters flow through all the earth’s  continents –  

volumes of fresh water but unequally apportioned.


He leads me in right paths
   for his name’s sake. 

Your word shows us where truth lies, 

your wisdom guides us.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
   I fear no evil;

Rather amongst business leaders and politicians, 

autocrats and diktats do I tremble. 

but you are with me;
   your rod and your staff— they comfort me. 

As you comfort and protect us, so may we 

comfort and protect all who live in fear.


You prepare a table before me
   in the presence of my enemies;

May we be peace makers, 

generously sharing the abundance we have.


you anoint my head with oil;
   my cup overflows. 

May we bring health and well being

 to all our brother and sisters in creation.


Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
   all the days of my life,

May we all dwell in the house of the Lord 

all the days of our lives.

The Grace .

In praise of May 

Friday 6th May 2022

From the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth, may God always give you abundant harvests of grain and bountiful new wine. Genesis 27:28

The month of May May owes its name to the Greek goddess of fertility, Maia. For many May is the month dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Queen of  May. It is certainly the month when spring growth is at its most abundant. 

Glory be to God for the may tree –

 the happy hawthorn:

Decked in  white blossom, 

she serves a feast for insects – alleluia! 

Glory be to God for the mayfly – 

ephemera vulgate:

Older even than dinosaurs,  this insect surrenders its underwater life 

for one brief air born day of delight – Alleluia! 

Glory be to God for the maybug – 

the cockchafer:

Four years toiling as grub underground, 

she emerges a chestnut gilded member of the scarab family – alleluia!

Glory be to God for the may flower – 

the cuckoo flower, Cardamine pratensis:

Pink flowers veined with purple, a dainty plant 

that feeds the caterpillars of orange-tip and the green-veined white butterfly –

Alleluia!

A reading: Genesis 1: 29-31 

And look! I have given you the seed-bearing plants throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food.  And I’ve given all the grass and plants to the animals and birds for their food.”  Then God looked over all that he had made, and it was excellent in every way. This ended the sixth day.

God of all creation,

May we cherish what you have created, 

respecting each plant and animal, 

bird and insect as both unique and irreplaceable.

May we honour with reverence 

what spreads out before our feet, 

what flies in the air above, 

slides through the water 

or creeps in the soil below.

May we temper our lives 

to make space for others, 

ceding priority to the vulnerable 

and encouraging the faint- hearted.

May we listen with our ears, 

see with our eyes 

and comprehend with wisdom 

the harmony of your Kingdom here in earth.

Amen.

The Grace 

For all our brothers and sisters – in thanksgiving for the life and teachings of Pope Francis

26th April 2025

‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew 25:40 

You Lord, are the source of all good things: 

We praise you.

You call us to tend and care for your creation: 

May we strive to do your will.

You have made us as brothers and sisters with all that lives: 

May we live together in peace.

A reading from Isaiah 58:6-11

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard.

Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am. If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail.

Prayer of Pope Francis

All-powerful God,

you are present in the whole universe

and in the smallest of your creatures.

You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.

Pour out upon us the power of your love,

that we may protect life and beauty.

Fill us with peace, that we may live

as brothers and sisters, harming no one.

O God of the poor,

help us to rescue the abandoned

and forgotten of this earth,

so precious in your eyes.

Bring healing to our lives,

that we may protect the world and not prey on it,

that we may sow beauty,

not pollution and destruction.

Touch the hearts

of those who look only for gain

at the expense of the poor and the earth.

Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,

to be filled with awe and contemplation,

to recognise that we are profoundly united

with every creature

as we journey towards your infinite light.

We thank you for being with us each day.

Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle

for justice, love and peace.

Amen.

Lament for the sorrows of the world

7th July 2023

As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. Psalm 42:1

You Lord, are the source of all good things: 

We praise you.

You call us to tend and care for your creation: 

May we strive to do your will.

You have made us as brothers and sisters with all that lives: 

May we live together in peace.

A reading: Exodus 3:1-7 

Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, ‘I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.’ When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ Then he said, ‘Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.’ He said further, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. Then the Lord said, ‘I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings…’

Response
Great and awesome God, 

keeper of promises

and steadfast in love, 

We lay before you the sorrows of the world:

Soldiers and civilians killed in war, 

police and rioters caught in the crossfire of inequality 

refugees risking death to seek a safer life, 

lives lost in floods and heatwaves.

Lord have mercy: 

and hear our prayer.

Great and awesome God, 

keeper of promises

and steadfast in love, 

We lay before you the sorrows of the world:

Rivers drained by drought, 

glaciers and ice caps carved away by heat, 

burning tundra and wild fires,  

coral reefs bleached by heat stress.

Lord have mercy: 

and hear our prayer.

Great and awesome God, 

keeper of promises

and steadfast in love, 

We lay before you the sorrows of the world:

Livelihoods gone because of rising fuel prices, 

harvests lost as rainfall diminishes, 

futures destroyed by armed conflict,  

lives lost through lack of medical attention.

Lord have mercy: 

and hear our prayer.

Great and awesome God, 

keeper of promises

and steadfast in love, 

We lay before you the sorrows of the world:

Wildlife made homeless by forest clearance, 

migrating birds dying from heat exhaustion, 

bees and butterflies poisoned by pesticides, 

marine ecosystems decimated by over fishing.  

Lord have mercy: 

and hear our prayer.

Great and awesome God, 

keeper of promises

and steadfast in love, 

We lay before you the sorrows of the world:

Political intransigence that leaves people powerless, 

broken promises that relegate the needs of biodiversity,

half-baked measures that ignore the vulnerable,

taxes that reward the rich and take from the poor. 

Lord have mercy: 

and hear our prayer.

Holy and loving God, 

comfort us when we are overwhelmed, 

reassure us when we feel helpless, 

inspire us when we lack hope 

and empower us when we can make a difference.

Amen. 

The Grace

Prayers with Psalm 104

15th April 2025

The Lord God took and placed the human in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded Adam, ‘You may freely eat of every tree of the garden;  but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.’ Genesis 2: 15-17

A reading: Psalm 104:1-24 from The Message 
O my soul, bless God!

God, my God, how great you are!

beautifully, gloriously robed,

Dressed up in sunshine,

and all heaven stretched out for your tent.

You built your palace on the ocean deeps,

made a chariot out of clouds and took off on wind-wings.

You commandeered winds as messengers,

appointed fire and flame as ambassadors.

You set earth on a firm foundation

so that nothing can shake it, ever.

You blanketed earth with ocean,

covered the mountains with deep waters;

Then you roared and the water ran away—

your thunder crash put it to flight.

Mountains pushed up, valleys spread out

in the places you assigned them.

You set boundaries between earth and sea;

never again will earth be flooded.

You started the springs and rivers,

sent them flowing among the hills.

All the wild animals now drink their fill,

wild donkeys quench their thirst.

Along the riverbanks the birds build nests,

ravens make their voices heard.

You water the mountains from your heavenly cisterns;

earth is supplied with plenty of water.

You make grass grow for the livestock,

hay for the animals that plow the ground.

Oh yes, God brings grain from the land,

wine to make people happy,

Their faces glowing with health,

a people well-fed and hearty.

God’s trees are well-watered—

the Lebanon cedars he planted.

Birds build their nests in those trees;

look—the stork at home in the treetop.

Mountain goats climb about the cliffs;

badgers burrow among the rocks.

The moon keeps track of the seasons,

the sun is in charge of each day.

When it’s dark and night takes over,

all the forest creatures come out.

The young lions roar for their prey,

clamouring to God for their supper.

When the sun comes up, they vanish,

lazily stretched out in their dens.

Meanwhile, men and women go out to work,

busy at their jobs until evening.

What a wildly wonderful world, God!

You made it all, with Wisdom at your side,

made earth overflow with your wonderful creations.

Response:
Lord God, where did we go astray?

How have we managed to destroy so many habitats, 

kill off so many species, 

poison the air we breathe and the waters we drink?

How is it that we even endanger the lives of our fellow human beings?

Why have we ignored the warning signs that our greed was costing the earth?


Lord God, have mercy on us.

Grant us time to repent and repair.

Open our eyes and ears to receive your wisdom.

Speed our hearts and minds to do your will, 

to restore justice and harmony.

Empower our hands and feet to revitalise our care for the earth.

Renew our commitment to care for all you give us.

Amen. 

Be with us God, show us the way

29th March 2025

“Never have we so hurt and mistreated our common home as we have in the last 200 years. We are not God. The Earth was here before us and was given to us. The exploitation of the planet has already exceeded acceptable limits and we still have not solved the problem of poverty. We must regain the conviction that we need one another, that we have a shared responsibility for others and the world, and that being good and decent are worth it.” Pope Francis, Laudate Si

When I am tempted to meanness,

Show me your ways, O God,

and teach me your paths.

When I fail to care for your creation,

Show me your ways, O God,

and teach me your paths.

When I am too busy to stand and stare,

Show me your ways, O God,

and teach me your paths.

From Rhythms of Remembering, Hannah Ward and Jennifer Wild, with permission 

Pause for reflection

“But ask the animals what they think—let them teach you;
    let the birds tell you what’s going on.
Put your ear to the earth—learn the basics.
    Listen—the fish in the ocean will tell you their stories.
Isn’t it clear that they all know and agree
    that God is sovereign, that he holds all things in his hand—
Every living soul, yes,
    every breathing creature?
Isn’t this all just common sense,
    as common as the sense of taste? Job 12:7-11

To know you in all things –

Weave a web of your presence around us today.

Be with our hands as they work.

Be with our eyes as they see.

Be with our ears as they hear.

Be with our  tongue as it speaks.

Be with our feelings and our thoughts.

Be with the people we meet.

Be with the trees we walk by and the grass we walk upon.

Be with the birds we hear and the creatures we see.

Be with the things we make and the things we take.

Be with the decisions we address.

Be in and through, over and under all,

so that doing and hearing and seeing, speaking and making and being,

we may glimpse your glory, hear your voice

and joyfully work with you

to create a new heaven and a new earth.

 May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ 

and the love of God,

and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit 

be with us all.

Amen. 

Tending the earth for all

22nd March 2025

Trust in the Lord and be doing good; dwell in the land and be nourished with truth.
  Let your delight be in the Lord and he will give you your heart’s desire.
Commit your way to the Lord and put your trust in him, and he will bring it to pass. 

Psalm 37:3-5

You Lord are the bread of life;

feed us with your wisdom.

Our meat is to do the Father’s  will.

guide us in all we do

Whenever we eat or drink

Let it be to the glory of God.

Reading 

 “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.  But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain.  Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.” 

Mark 4:3-8

Pause for reflection

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
    and do not return there until they have watered the earth,

So may we store water for when and for whoever needs it,

and safeguard those living with the threat of flooding.


As the earth brings forth and sprouts,
    giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

So may we harvest what is needed, 

sharing the bounty so no one goes hungry.

So shall God’s word be that goes forth; it shall not return empty,
but it shall accomplish that which is purposed
    and succeed in the thing for which it is sent.

May we pay attention to God’s word,

 following the ways of wisdom that God desires 

for the wellbeing of all creation.

For as the earth brings forth its shoots,

May we protect the fertility of the soil,

not polluting it with chemicals nor stripping it of nourishment.

And as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,

May we treasure those who tend and farm the land,

paying fair wages and sharing profits.

So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
    to spring up before all the nations:

May we welcome God’s kingdom with all our being,

following God’s law with hands, hearts and voices.

Based on Isaiah 55:10,11 and 61:11


The Grace

Tend and care for the earth

15th March 2025

The earth, O Lord, is full of your faithful love;  instruct me in your statutes.  Psalm 119:64

You Lord, are the source of all good things: 

We praise you.

You call us to tend and care for your creation: 

May we strive to do your will.

You have made us as brothers and sisters with all that lives: 

May we live together in peace.

A reading Job 38: 1-7 (The Message)

And now, finally, God answered Job from the eye of a violent storm. He said:“Why do you confuse the issue? Why do you talk without knowing what you’re talking about? Pull yourself together, Job! Up on your feet! Stand tall! I have some questions for you, and I want some straight answers.
Where were you when I created the earth? Tell me, since you know so much! Who decided on its size? Certainly you’ll know that! Who came up with the blueprints and measurements? How was its foundation poured, and who set the cornerstone, While the morning stars sang in chorus and all the angels shouted praise?

(The first and last verses of the following are said by all; those in between can be said antiphonally) 

Open my eyes, O Lord 

that I may see the wonders of your law. 

Lead me in the path of your commandments.               Psalm 119: 18, 35


Open my eyes, O Lord

that I may see the worms that plough and enrich the earth, 

that I may know the value of adding compost to the soil.

Lead me in the path of your commandments.


Open my eyes, O Lord

that I may see the insects that pollinate the crops, 

that I may know the value of growing wild flowers.

Lead me in the path of your commandments.


Open my eyes, O Lord 

that I may see the work of the ant,

disposing of waste and keeping would-be pests in check.

Lead me in the path of your commandments.

Open my eyes, O Lord

that I may see the joy of the sparrow’s life – 

foraging, preening, dust-bathing and roosting together in community.

Lead me in the path of your commandments.

Open my eyes, O Lord 

that I may see the handsome tree 

that sequesters the carbon, lest the planet overheat.

Lead me in the path of your commandments. 

O Lord, how many are Your works!

In wisdom You have made them all;

The earth is full of Your possessions.

Holy is your name! Amen.   Psalm 104:24


Intercessions –( these too may be said antiphonally )

God, creator of the world and source of all wisdom,

We pray for those who farm the land, 

that they may understand the intricacies of the soil’s ecosystem, 

and the interdependent needs of plants and insects.

Lord in your mercy: Hear our prayer.

God, creator of the world and source of all wisdom,

We pray for those who raise livestock, 

that they may understand the needs of each creature 

and acknowledge the kindred relationship we share with them.

Lord in your mercy: Hear our prayer.

God, creator of the world and source of all wisdom,

We pray for foresters and forest owners, 

that they may understand the value of trees,

their niche environments, and their necessity for global  wellbeing. 

Lord in your mercy: Hear our prayer.

God, creator of the world and source of all wisdom,

We pray for all who garden that they may know God’s calling 

to till and tend the earth.

Lord in your mercy: Hear our prayer.

The Grace

Litany of repentance

8th March 2025

O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own ground; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act,” says the Lord. Ezekiel 37:14

 You Lord, are the source of all good things: 

We praise you.

You call us to tend and care for your creation: 

May we strive to do your will.

You have made us as brothers and sisters with all that lives: 

May we live together in peace. 

A reading from Ezekiel 11:19-21 

I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them; I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,  so that they may follow my statutes and keep my ordinances and obey them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 

Response:-

Time and again, Lord God, 

we have failed and let you down.

And time and again, Lord God, 

you have raised us up and renewed the life within us.

We lay before you our short comings, 

our greed for an ever richer lifestyle, 

our selflessness in not sharing your gifts equitably, 

our blinkered existence that does not see the suffering we cause.

Lord God, have mercy. 

We lay before you our misdeeds, 

our over consumption of the earth’s resources, 

our polluting of the air 

and our polluting of the water.

Lord God, have mercy.

We lay before you our sins, 

our failure to love our neighbours, 

our adulterous love of self interest, 

our disregard of the Sabbath rest.

Lord God, have mercy.

Life dealing God,

Restore our hope:

inspire our governments to act decisively and fairly, 

and with generosity for all in need.

Rebuild our broken bodies and broken relationships, 

inspire investors to fund climate tackling projects, 

and inspire lawmakers to establish justice for all.


Replace our hearts of stone.  

Inspire us to love whole heartedly our neighbours

 – human and creaturely.

Breathe new life into our souls, 

that we may have the strength and confidence

to follow your ways, your desires.

Amen. 

God’s generosity and our greed 

1st March 2025

God hates cheating in the marketplace; rigged scales are an outrage. Proverbs 20:23 (The Message)

You Lord, are the source of all good things: 

We praise you.

You call us to tend and care for your creation: 

May we strive to do your will.

You have made us as brothers and sisters with all that lives: 

May we live together in peace.

A reading from Leviticus 25:3 – 7 

For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather in their yield; but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of complete rest for the land, a sabbath for the Lord: you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. You shall not reap the aftergrowth of your harvest or gather the grapes of your unpruned vine: it shall be a year of complete rest for the land. You may eat what the land yields during its sabbath—you, your male and female slaves, your hired and your bound labourers who live with you; for your livestock also, and for the wild animals in your land all its yield shall be for food.

God, who planted the Garden of Eden 

with good things to eat, and caused the earth to bring forth green shoots:

We praise you.

God, who caused rivers to flow, 

who sent rains in due season,  and filled the seas with life:

We praise you.

God, who modelled Adam to be a gardener, 

who modelled the creatures in diverse kinds, each as helpers and Eve as co- partner:

We praise you. 

God, you created a world 

which can offer all that is needed, and give each being, plant and creature, a place to belong:

We praise you.

And the Lord said to me, ‘Amos, what do you see?’ And I said, ‘A plumb-line.’ Then the Lord said, ‘See, I am setting a plumb-line in the midst of my people Israel”. Amos 7:8

Generous God,

we have overworked the soil and drained it of its nutrients; 

we have covered vast swathes in tarmac, and have covered our gardens with plastic lawns.

We consume more than we give back, we have not measured true to your plumb-line:

Lord have mercy.

Generous God,

we have decimated the forests, and grubbed up hedgerows, 

we have wiped out diversity and favoured monocultures.

We have taken and not put back, we have not measured true to your plumb-line:

Lord have mercy.

Generous God, 

we have poisoned the waterways and flooded  them with sewage, 

we have drained lakes and rivers to water our crops.

We have ignored what happens downstream, we have not measured true to your plumb-line:

Lord have mercy.

Generous God, 

We have dredged the seas and overfished the oceans. 

We have over consumed fossil fuels, melting icecaps and inundating islands.

We have ignored the science, we have not measured true to your plumb-line:

Lord have mercy.

Generous God, 

we hunted some creatures to extinction, and pushed others to the margins;

we have destroyed their homes, and taken away their food.

We have despised them as co-habitants, we have not measured true to your plumb-line:

Lord have mercy.

Generous God, 

we have demonised our fellow humans, and used them as slaves; 

we have taken their wealth and left them to starve.

We have spent more on war than on peace, we have not measured true to your plumb-line:

Lord have mercy. 

Open our eyes to see the error of our ways. 

Open our hearts to overflow with love.

Open our hands to be generous in sharing. 

May we act justly 

and  love mercy 

and  walk humbly with you our God.

Amen