Wednesday Morning - The Days of Creation

"EARTH, SEAS AND PLANTS"

Genesis 1:9-13

GREETING (Psalm 42:1)

As a deer longs for flowing streams,

so my soul longs for you, O God.

HYMN 86 “Mountains Are All Aglow”

PSALM 24

PRAYER

(Consider some of the following concerns for prayers of thanksgiving, intercession, and petition. Follow with your personal prayer list.)

Mountains, valleys and plains Deforestation

Mineral resources Desertification

Fertile soils Springs, streams and rivers

Soil depletion Ponds, lakes, seas and oceans

Soil erosion Swamps and bayous

Soil pollution Glaciers and ice

Lawns, gardens and fields Water pollution

Vegetables, fruits and grain crops Rain and snow, dew and frost

Grasses, flowers, bushes and trees Floods

Mosses and lichens, algae and seaweeds Droughts

Herbs and medicinal plants ______________________________

Heirloom and hybrid plants ______________________________

Plants going extinct ______________________________

THE LORD'S PRAYER

SCRIPTURE LESSON

(Choose a passage of scripture to read. It can be a chapter, a paragraph, or a particular story. Daily lectionaries are available online or in print that assign a lesson each day from the gospels, epistles, Old Testament and psalms on a three-year cycle. Or you can create a plan to read a book of the Bible, or the whole Bible. Then follow the steps below.)

Read a passage of scripture. Read it out loud, very slowly and carefully as if for the first time. Continue reading until a word, phrase or sentence captures your attention. Stop there to repeat the word, phrase or sentence over and over, listening to it deeply in your heart.

Reflect on why the passage got your attention. Consider the area of your life to which this may apply. Is God saying something to you in this passage? Take time to listen carefully to whatever God may be saying to you.

Respond to God in prayer (or with journaling, music, art or whatever you choose) about what you have heard. Ask questions. Open yourself to God’s will for you.

Rest in God’s company. Be still and quiet. Move beyond thinking, practicing interior silence. Let yourself be open to God’s presence. Savor this moment with God.

PRAYER

O God, our Creator, our Keeper, our Future,

you are everything to your people.

We walk on the rich soils you established,

and plant our gardens in their ripe loam.

Chlorophyll in plants turns sunlight into food,

silently proclaiming your everlasting care.

Your tossing seas speak vigor and calling,

your graceful meadows peace and rest.

We dine on the fruit of this land of plenty,

and drink deeply from its many waters.

We walk in the shade of the trees you plant,

and build our houses from their wood.

Your clay and granite, marble and brick

provide myriad opportunities for industry.

Our technology is founded on the silicon

you spread so abundantly under our feet.

Our eyes lift to the clouds and give you praise.

On the high rocks we call on your name.

This world is so plentiful and magnificent,

it is hard to imagine an even better place.

Yet we long to sit beside the mighty river

that issues from your throne in heaven.

There we will hear your voice and bow down

before the Creator we love so very much.

The leaves of the trees growing by that flow

will heal every wound and broken heart.

In each season the juicy fruits of these trees

will satiate your children with your love.

We dream longingly of that day yet to come,

and living forever there in your embrace. Amen.

SILENCE AND COMMITMENT

(Pause to reflect and listen. Work to push out of your mind any distracting or irrelevant thoughts. Concentrate your thoughts on the words of the hymns and choruses you have sung, the prayers you have spoken and the scriptures you have read. Be aware of what you are feeling. Listen for anything that God might be saying to you in this time you have spent together. As God responds to your prayer-time, seek guidance for how you can best respond to God’s will. Then commit to serving God’s will for you.)

HYMN 148 “Many and Great, O God”

CLOSING PRAYER

The waking birds praise you with their songs, Father.

The dew dripping from the grasses speaks of your care.

The magenta sunrise writes your wisdom and passion.

The awaking dawn trumpets your delight in resurrection.

The stone underfoot murmurs of your great strength,

The breeze whispers of your presence to all your creation.

In this new day, I pray my life will shout your love,

and reflect a tiny glimmer of the kingdom that is coming.

Amen.

"EARTH, SEAS AND PLANTS"

Genesis 1:9-13

GREETING (Psalm 8:1, 3-5)

O Lord, our Sovereign,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars that you have established;

what are human beings that you are mindful of them,

mortals that you care for them?

Yet you have made them a little lower than God,

and crowned them with glory and honor.

HYMN 92 “For the Beauty of the Earth”

PSALM 29

PRAYER

(Think back to the beginning of this day. Start there, and mentally walk through the day again, while you thank God for the day's blessings and God's continuous work of love. Confess and repent of those times when you forgot, ignored or rebelled against God. Continue to pray with your personal prayer list.)

SCRIPTURE LESSON

• Read a passage of scripture. Read it out loud, very slowly and carefully as if for the first time. Continue reading until a word, phrase or sentence captures your attention. Stop there to repeat the word, phrase or sentence over and over, listening to it deeply in your heart.

• Reflect on why the passage got your attention. Consider the area of your life to which this may apply. Is God saying something to you in this passage? Take time to listen carefully to whatever God may be saying to you.

• Respond to God in prayer (or with journaling, music, art or whatever you choose) about what you have heard. Ask questions. Open yourself to God’s will for you.

• Rest in God’s company. Be still and quiet. Move beyond thinking, practicing interior silence. Let yourself be open to God’s presence. Savor this moment with God.

PRAYER

Giver of all good gifts,

you have graced your people,

with the creation of earth, seas and plants.

But we have fought wars,

to control what you gave freely,

to seize and hog the privilege of private use.

Show us your open hands,

and teach us to open our own,

to share freely with the rest of your children.

We are not owners.

We are stewards of your gifts,

servants tending an ecology of abundance.

Change our attitudes.

Redirect our hearts and minds.

Plant us with a new Spirit of thanksgiving.

We love the earth,

with its vast, welcoming plains

and rugged mountains reaching up to heaven.

We love the seas,

the deep mysterious oceans,

the backyard ponds and melodic streams.

We love the plants,

from the tall, proud forests,

to the lawn’s humble violets and dandelions.

So blessed are we.

Your gifts shape our lives.

Your rich legacy initiates and supports all life.

Make us faithful,

guardians of your creation,

sharing and preserving your gifts for all.

Let our stewardship

honor and praise you, O God,

as the source and future of all your creation.

Amen.

SILENCE AND COMMITMENT

HYMN 97 “For the Fruits of This Creation”

CLOSING PRAYER

God, as you completed your astounding creation,

you saw the days and declared each of them good.

Now look at this day we have created with you,

and in your mercy and grace declare it good also.

May this humble offering add to your goodness,

our faith, our hope, our obedience and our love.

All these things you first created in our hearts,

to spill out and fill all creation with their blessing.

God of goodness, grant us a good night’s rest,

and let our dreams be of an even better tomorrow. Amen.