For the next two years, we have invited special guest writers to contribute our Weekly Prayers. This month, we welcome former MWiB President Sandra Goodwin. Sandra writes:
The inspiration for this series of prayers is drawn from my love of the natural world, a passion taught and nurtured by my father from a very early age. Each Sunday afternoon he would take me and my siblings for a ‘nature walk’ through the lanes near our home, and holidays were spent roaming the Welsh mountains with their wide vistas and hidden waterfalls. Scripture is full of references to the natural world, and I invite you to quietly reflect on what they may be saying to us.
Psalm 8: 3–4
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?
Have you ever stood outside on a really dark, clear night and been in awe of the beauty of the night sky? Sixteen years ago I worked as a volunteer in Fazenda Betel, a Christian home for abandoned and rescued children in Brazil. It was situated in a rural area accessed down a long winding farm track. Darkness descended over the Fazenda at around 7.00pm each evening, and with the absence of any ‘light pollution’ the night sky was clearly visible.
At the end of my working day I regularly sat outside my accommodation gazing upwards, transfixed by layer upon layer of stars strewn across the sky. I contemplated the vastness of the universe and the diversity of our home planet Earth and, like the psalmist, contemplated the mystery of creation and our relationship with God our creator.
Creator God,
thank you for the gift of life,
for this wonderful planet we call home
and for all within it that sustains and nourishes us.
Thank you for the science and modern technology
which enable us to learn more about the universe
and its mysteries still to be revealed.
Above all, thank you for the gift of your Son Jesus Christ
through whom we know and experience love,
forgiveness and reconciliation.
In the name of Christ we pray.
Amen
Weekly Prayers for August written by Sandra Goodwin
Image: The Milky Way (Public Domain photo, www.piqsels.com)
You can download the Weekly Prayers for August below:
[wpdm_package id=16232 template=”link-template-default.php”]
