A Prayer for Farmers in a Wet Year

We offer this prayer, O God,

for those who till the soil,

for those whose hands

and lives

are entwined with Your Own,

in a time when they

perceive their hopes

sinking beneath

the rivulets of water,

washing the seed

and dreams

of a bountiful harvest

into rivers of despair.

We pray for Sunshine

to dry the soil

and lift the spirit.

We pray for Your Spirit

to blow across the land

and give growth

and strength

to struggling plants

and people alike.

We pray for Safety

in the moment

when waiting gives way

to doing,

that the doing

not be undone

by hurry

or shortcuts.

We pray for Wisdom

in the midst

of the rush,

that bodies not become

so tired

that minds make

costly errors.

We pray for Patience

that the hurried pace

of fevered opportunity

not become the seed bed

of short tempered,

unlistening ears,

which hear not Your call

to walk in peace

the path set before us.

We pray for Discernment,

that adversity not be

the final answer,

that difficulty not be

the only direction,

that hardship not be

the last straw,

before understanding

that You are in all things,

bringing Hope.

And we pray for the farmers

themselves.

We pray for those with whom

You partner

to feed the world,

that they not be lost

in the fury of the

Springtime storms

your ongoing creation

whips over the land.

We pray for those

whose tender hearts

and toughened hands

wait in prayerful vigil

for the shed door

of your growing season

to open

and welcome them

into Your future

for us all.

We pray for the farmers,

O God,

and in so doing,

we pray for ourselves,

for these faithful few

among us,

still do with You

what the majority

in our world

cannot do for themselves:

They raise the grain

which make the loaves,

they nurture the vineyards

which yield the wine,

and in Your Strong Hands

and in Your Gentle Voice

we hear the blessing,

"My Body"

"My Blood",

the crop becoming

sacrament,

the harvest

a resurrection.

We pray for the farmers

and their families,

that in Your Love,

their prayers

would be heard,

and our world

receive your caress.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Don