I’m told it’s been a warm year, maybe the warmest on record. Many of us have been basking in sunshine which we have complacently called ‘unseasonal’. But deep down we have known that this is likely to be yet another sign that all is not well.

Through our profligate use of resources, and especially our use of fossil fuels, the earth and its climate is out of joint. While for some this means more temperate weather, for others it can mean floods or droughts, lost land and failed crops.

We know that something must change, but again, deep down, we know that we must change – our politicians need to commit more, our communities need to plan more, and we need to use less. Yet we have always found changing ourselves to be so hard. We need resolve, but even more, we need to seek God’s help.

Now Christian organisations in the UK are coming together to launch a year of prayer and fasting for the climate at special services across the country on 1 November 2014. This initiative calls on Christians to pray and fast on the first day of every month to make a stand for climate justice. The coming year is a crucial time for faith communities to act in response to the climate crisis, as momentum builds towards a new international climate agreement to be signed in Paris in December 2015 to stop dangerous climate change.

I want to encourage, no, urge, Baptists to become a part of this prayer movement. Politics is bound up with prayer, economics is entwined with spiritual disciplines. We pray to God the creator, ‘Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven’. We pray for God’s world, we pray for ourselves and we pray for those who suffer as a result of our selfish policies and actions.

Creator God,
this world is majestic with your glory,
yet delicate are the balances of your handiwork.
Forgive our abuse of your creation
and our selfish overuse of its wealth.
By your grace,
create within us a spirit of true repentance
and a passion for your kingdom which bears fruit
in new ways of living together
and a greater stewardship of your gifts,
though Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

 

To find out more and to become part of this prayer movement, go to the
Pray and Fast for the Climate website.

 

Chris Ellis

 
If you want to think more about worship with Chris, then visit Let's Talk about Worship where you will find a series of interviews with Chris and some great linked resources for small group study in your church.