PRAYERS

World Environment Day takes place every year on 5 June. It is the United Nations’ flagship day for promoting worldwide awareness and action for the environment. Over the years, it has grown to be one of the largest global platforms for public outreach, celebrated by millions of people in well over 100 countries.

It is the ‘People’s Day’ for doing something positive for the environment. Its aim is to harness individual actions and transform them into a collective power that has a legacy of real and lasting impact on the planet.

UN World Environment Day: Global Education Kit

Refuse

Holy God, show us your ways; show us new ways to live. Ways to refuse to be part of the damage done to the environment. Help us to refuse to be yet another reckless person polluting the planet. Open our eyes to ways to refuse the single use, plastic, disposable option and instead opt for a culture of planetary care.

Reduce

God of love, how can live lives worthy of you? How can we reduce our destructive ways upon your creation? Where there is hurt, how can I sow love? Lead us that we may lead others to a world with less waste; a world where people, animals and our shared environment are cared for as you care for us.

Reuse

God of grace, give us our daily bread and guide us to be good stewards of all we that are given. Give us eyes to see and hearts that can receive what you have to say to us. Help us to deal with our disposable dispositions and embolden us to live sacrificially for the good of others.

Recycle

Redeeming God, forgive our failures to care for all you have created. Forgive us for our apathy, disregard, abuse denial... As our recycling system falters, we see that what we once wanted to believe was a wonderful wish fulfilled was instead yet another failure to deal with our wasteful ways. Renew our hope that we may resolve to do better.

A PROBLEM

Plastic pollution is one of the biggest environmental challenges of our time, with statistics showing that there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish by 2050. To change the future, we all need to play our part. Whether it is a bottled soft drink, a bag from the supermarket or a spoon in a coffee shop, single-use plastic has become embedded in our daily lives. The low cost, convenience and lightness of these products have revolutionized the packaging of goods. However, the catastrophic environmental cost of this convenience is now becoming increasingly clear.

UN World Environment Day: Global Education Kit

A RESPONSE

“Beat Plastic Pollution”, the theme for World Environment Day 2018, is a call to action for all of us to come together to combat one of the great environmental challenges of our time. The theme invites us all to consider how we can make changes in our everyday lives to reduce the heavy burden of plastic pollution on our natural places, our wildlife – and our own health.

While plastic has many valuable uses, we have become over reliant on single-use or disposable plastic – with severe environmental consequences... Join us in raising awareness and inspiring action to form the global movement needed to beat plastic pollution for good.

UN World Environment Day 2018: Key Messages Kit

Jesus is not a magic genie who takes all our problems away. So let's get involved, and both pray and do something.

Find someone to pray with. But before you pray why don't you commit to making a change that will benefit the environment. And why not ask the person to check in with you in a week or two, and hold each other accountable. (Use you awesome GTD ninja skills for this)

Prayers such as this must be an act of the will as much as an utterance of the tongue to be meaningful.

A Benediction

May the prayers of your heart be the prayers of your hands! May you encounter the living God as you live what you pray. And may you find yourself increasingly transformed into the likeness of God's Son, Jesus Christ.

Amen