A Prayer About Environment

When I care for my surroundings

DEAR LORD,

Today I was struck by some people’s careless disregard for the environment. One street corner I passed, not too far from home, was littered with beer bottles, fast-food wrappers, cans, and scraps of paper. I saw a vacant lot with a discarded Christmas tree, a rusty appliance, a broken bicycle, and other junk. Most parking lots are the final resting place for cigarette butts, candy wrappers, and rubber bands. And a drive through most neighborhoods reveals a number of unkempt yards—weeds and untrimmed hedges threatening to obscure the houses. At Creation you gave the first humans responsibility to care for the earth. I know that I, too, am responsible for your amazing gift of nature. This means that as a good steward, I need to take good care of what you’ve entrusted to me and use your resources wisely. Thank you for placing me in my “garden.” Show me how I can take care of it, and please forgive me when I forget or take it for granted.

God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” . . . Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! Genesis 1:28, 31