God of creation,
you fill the world with your abundance;
it overflows with your generous mercy.
There is enough for everyone,
but we fail to share things fairly: a few have an abundance
but millions of others have no chance of a decent life
for themselves and their children
This year we are experiencing scarcity and lack,
we are full of worry:
things seem out of control.
These are hard times –
we have been living in anxiety for several years.
We come to you to seek your blessing
and be assured of the hope which you always hold before us.
So, this harvest time,
we pray for your world and for its peoples.
We pray that you will give us power
to make the necessary changes to avert climate disaster:
at the moment we feel helpless –
we can recycle and be economical
but we know that isn’t enough.
It seems that these matters are not in our control.
Show us, we ask you, how we can make things better.
We pray for all who are hungry,
all who can’t make ends meet,
those who are fearful of the coming winter.
We pray for our government:
for compassion, fairness, kindness, and honesty
in this time of turmoil.
We pray especially for our local community –
for those who live around us,
for those we know who are struggling,
and for those we haven’t noticed.
We pray for those who are ill,
all who are frail,
those who have died ….
and for those who mourn.
These, you promised to bless:
we call your blessings on them now.
In such troubling times
it’s easy to forget to give thanks.
So we stop for a few moments
to give thanks for all your blessings ….
Open our eyes to your beauty,
and our hearts to your love. Amen
If you would like to listen to an excellent sermon, I recommend this one preached by Revd’ Richard Carter at St Martin in the Fields, Trafalgar Square, London last Sunday. This was preached at a weekend reflecting on disabilty, and is all about Revd’ Richard’s mum who has dementia.