Autumn Prayers 

Heavenly Father, 

Thank you for the seasons. Especially, at the moment, thank you for Spring and Summer and the way they bring evidence of new life all around us. May we truly value all we have been given in the natural world around us, caring for it in every way we can. We are sorry for the times when we don’t.

As a town, Whitstable is very dependent on visitors, especially in the summer months. Help us to welcome all who join our community in the same spirit in which You welcome us.

May is a month when we see a changing of the seasons. Our lives adjust as part of that process. The way we spend our time, the clothes we wear, the foods we grow and eat. There is an inevitability to this change and we rely on it to achieve a balance in our lives. Help us to appreciate the challenges this brings.

May we learn to have new expectations in our lives and in our faith. Help us to experience things afresh and see them with a new perspective. Open our eyes to the possibilities that surround us and help us to grasp them with both hands. Help us to recognise what You expect of us.

Bless us with the wisdom to recognise Your will as we make plans. Growth will always be linked to change. May changes we make be for Your reasons and not our own. 

Thank you for the opportunity that we have been given to host the work of Haven over the summer months. May it continue to provide support to people who turn to it for support. There are many ways in which Churches Together in Whitstable witness to Your love for the world. Thank You that we can play our part in that.

But You know, Lord, that often we struggle. When life presents us with things that we just want to turn away from help us to remember to turn to You. As Mary turned to Jesus on the first Easter morning, may we be filled with the knowledge that You have the answer. Indeed, You are the answer.

May our lives be evidence of the change You have made for us and the change You will make for others when they ask. As we develop our faith may it strengthen our self-belief so that we can be examples of just how dependent we are.

Amen.

Dear Lord God, 

We thank you for the Summertime, with the warmer weather and the beauty of the earth around us.  Bright smiling flowers, tall green trees, the seaside on our door step .  Summer a  time to appreciate the world  you have given us.  For some of us a time to be able to relax and reflect. 

We  have seen the gathering of harvest produce. The ripe fruit in the orchards and along the hedge rows. The bales of hay standing in the reaped fields. All to sustain us and the animals thought the long coming  winter months

   We now look forward to colours of Autumn, the golden brown of the tree's leaves and the changing scenery.  A time to return to our usual routines of school and work.  We ask that your Holy Spirit is with us in all we have to do and say. 

In this world of so much beauty we are aware of all the destruction and damage that is done to our earth. We pray for our world - that it may be treated respectfully. We thank you for all the organisations and mankind that care for our environment, animals and wildlife. We pray that they may get the message across to those who are doing harm to the beauty you have given us. 

We Pray for the world's peoples. Those that are ruled by tyrants , those who are lured into forced labour, those who live in poverty, those affected by disasters natural and manmade. We pray that your love may overcome all the hatred that is in our world.  That your peace may come to us on earth. 

We pray through you Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Amen.