Prayers – Page 6 – The Green Tau

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

Thanks for table fellowship

15th February 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 Mark 6: 38-44 ( from The Message)

But he was quite serious. “How many loaves of bread do you have? Take an inventory.”

That didn’t take long. “Five,” they said, “plus two fish.”

Jesus got them all to sit down in groups of fifty or a hundred—they looked like a patchwork quilt of wildflowers spread out on the green grass! He took the five loaves and two fish, lifted his face to heaven in prayer, blessed, broke, and gave the bread to the disciples, and the disciples in turn gave it to the people. He did the same with the fish. They all ate their fill. The disciples gathered twelve baskets of leftovers. More than five thousand were at the supper.

Table Piece

Around the table, smallest to largest,

youngest to oldest – comfortable and companionable.

Bread, first mixed and kneaded,

shared together at the table.

Wisdom, debated and pondered,

gathered from around the table.

Gentle chiding, loving acceptance, laughter –

differences reconciled at the table.

Thanks given, prayers said, hands clasped

a place of worship at the table.

Kith and kin, friends – all welcome: love

a community built around the table.

Prayers

We give thanks O Lord, for the food we have to eat,

for the opportunities we have to eat together,

for the times we gather to share and learn together,

and for the joy of worshipping at your table.

We pray Lord, for all who struggle to get food to eat,

all who lack the companionship of friends and family,

all who are exploited and all who are fall prey to disinformation,

and for all who have yet to feel included at you table.

Stir us Lord, to respond with generosity and determination

to feed the hungry,

to transform the inequalities of society,

to reach out to those starved of love,

and to nourish all with your word.

Amen.

God’s kingdom – food for all

8th February 2025

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 Mark 4:3-8

“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.”

Pause for reflection

Response:

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 is said together

Prayers for Candlemas

1st February 2025

“I, the LORD, have called you for a righteous purpose, and I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations. Isaiah 42:6

You Lord are the light of the world:

help us to see.

Your word is a light for our path:

guide us in all we do.

Whatever we say or do:

let it be to the glory of God.

A reading from Luke 2: 29- 35

“Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace,

as you have promised.

I have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all people.

He is a light to reveal God to the nations,

and he is the glory of your people Israel.”

Jesus’ parents were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, the baby’s mother, “This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, and many others to rise. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him. As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul.”

Response:

Where will that light shine?

Will it reach the tops of the mountains where the glaciers are fast disappearing?

Will it follow the rivers that flow down from the mountains?

Will it light upon the people who rely on the river for their livelihoods?

Will it herald a bright future for them or pierce their soul as with a sword?

Where will that light shine?

Will it reach the depths of the earth where conglomerates mine for minerals and riches?

Will it reach the depth of the oceans where conglomerates drill for oil and gas?

Will it follow the flow of money that skips lightly past those who labour,

and fills the ever deepening pockets of the wealthy?

Will it herald a bright future for them or pierce their soul as with a sword?

Where will the light shine?

Will it reach the verdant understory deep within the rainforests?

Or will it find that space already punctured by sugar and soy plantations?

Will it be embraced by a rich biodiverse ecosystem –

or will it search desperately for indigenous lives that are no more?

Will it herald a bright future for them or pierce their soul as with a sword?

Where will the light shine?

Will it glitter on the vast whiteness of the poles?

Or will it sink into the void that melting ice has left behind?

Will it bring life to the Arctic tern and the walrus?

Will it be a ray of light for the penguin chick and the polar bear cub?

Will it herald a bright future for them or pierce their soul as with a sword?

Where will the light shine?

Will reach inside apartment blocks split open by bombs?

Will it reach inside the ‘temporary’ abodes of the refugee camp?

Will it reach inside those precarious homes where the need for heat

faces a constant battle with the need to eat?

Will it spotlight communities in need of levelling up?

Will it herald a bright future for them or pierce their soul as with a sword?

For the times we have masked your light so that its message is obscured:

Lord have mercy.

For the times we have refocused your light away from those in need:

Lord have mercy.

For the times we have directed your light away from our own shortcomings:

Lord have mercy.

For the times we have refused to see where your light is pointing:

Lord have mercy.

Renew in us your spark that we may be visible agents of your Kingdom and active agents of your purpose.

Amen.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5

Thanksgiving for food and meals

25th January 2025

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 Mark 6: 38-44 ( from The Message)

But he was quite serious. “How many loaves of bread do you have? Take an inventory.”

That didn’t take long. “Five,” they said, “plus two fish.”

Table Piece

Around the table, smallest to largest,

youngest to oldest – comfortable and companionable.

Bread, first mixed and kneaded,

shared together at the table.

Wisdom, debated and pondered,

gathered from around the table.

Gentle chiding, loving acceptance, laughter –

differences reconciled at the table.

Thanks given, prayers said, hands clasped

a place of worship at the table.

Kith and kin, friends – all welcome: love

a community built around the table.

Prayers

We give thanks O Lord, for the food we have to eat,

for the opportunities we have to eat together,

for the times we gather to share and learn,

and for the joy of worshipping at your table.

We pray Lord, for all who struggle to get food to eat,

all who lack the companionship of friends and family,

all who are exploited and all who are fall prey to disinformation,

and for all who have yet to feel included at you table.

Stir us Lord, to respond with generosity and determination

to feed the hungry,

to transform the inequalities of society,

to reach out to those starved of love,

and to nourish all with your word.

Amen.

Prayers for the outpouring of God’s Spirit

18th January 2025

I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. Genesis 17:17

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 Deuteronomy 8:6-9

Therefore keep the commandments of the Lord your God, by walking in his ways and by fearing him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with flowing streams, with springs and underground waters welling up in valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land where you may eat bread without scarcity, where you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron and from whose hills you may mine copper.

As at the beginning, Lord God,

you made us in your image

and wrought with us a special bond,

an everlasting covenant of faith and love.

Continue to breathe your Spirit

into our hearts

that we may truly return that love.

As at the beginning, Lord God,

you have provided us good rich land,

overflowing with the good things of creation –

plants for food, water to drink.

Continue to breathe your Spirit

into our hearts

that we may be truly grateful.

As at the beginning, Lord God,

you created all manner of creatures

– our kith and kin –

for companionship and teamwork.

Continue to breathe your Spirit

into our hearts

that we may be faithful friends.

As from the beginning, Lord God,

you have filled the world with signs

and words of wisdom

so that we may learn and live well.

Continue to breathe your Spirit

into our hearts

that we may be attentive to your instruction.

As from the beginning, Lord God,

you have created a world of harmony

and flourishing

that all may live lives of fulfilment.

Continue to breathe your Spirit

into our hearts

that we may be at one with all creation.

As from the beginning, Lord God,

you have a created your world

as a place for joy and love to thrive

and where happiness will abound.

Continue to breathe your Spirit

into our hearts

that we may ever rejoice and praise your glory.

Amen.

Epiphany – waters of life

11th January 2025

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. Isaiah 12:3

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 Mark 1:1-3, 9-11

The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way”— a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”

At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptised by John in the Jordan. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

As in the beginning the Spirit of God hovered over the waters,

so were the waters parted and the earth came into being.