Thanksgiving and intercession 28 February 2016

Generously providing God

your table groans with goodness and abundance

a table you invite us to sit at

we praise you for including us at the feast for all nations

we thank you for filling our stomachs with good things

we pray for your world where there is more than enough for all to taste and be satisfied

but food never reaches tables, due to cost or drought or the greed of the few

so children’s stomachs swell, not through being filled, but through malnutrition

so fathers pick unripe fruit to stave off the hunger pains of them and their loved ones

so farmers cannot sell their produce as it’s not the right shape or size

how can this happen in your world, Lord God?

We struggle to understand, and to know what to do to change these situations

so guide our prayers, our thoughts, our actions towards a more sustaining way

Fertilising Christ

patiently you tend us, water us, feed us, with your word

that we may bear fruit for all the nations

thank you for trusting us with that task

so much in your world seems to need chopped down

those who use their power and authority for personal gain and bullying point scoring, rather than to help and support the weak and the vulnerable

those who fail to listen when people tell them to stop doing what they are doing, as it is causing them pain and distress, physically, emotionally, spiritually

those who value status and position above self giving love, viewing the latter as weakness

but, as you are patient with us, Christ Jesus, may we be patient with all people who do not live

as you would wish all the peoples to live

to in our lives, in our actions, to offer the loving manure of your care at the very roots of their beings that they, too, may be fruitful for you

our Lord and saviour

Amen