Here are two more extracts from Prayers for All Seasons 2, which you can buy this week, until 27 September, at a 10 per cent discount – a saving of £2.80 – using the code ANIMAL10. Just type the code into the relevant box at the KM checkout between the dates given.
Harvest thanksgiving and petition
The riches of creation
Loving God,
we bring you this day our thanksgiving
for everything you have given us.
You have blessed us in so much:
teach us to use all your gifts wisely.
We thank you for the infinite beauty of our world,
for the complexity of the universe,
for the wonder of creation that can never be exhausted.
You have blessed us in so much:
teach us to use all your gifts wisely.
We thank you for the constant miracle of day and night,
summer and winter,
springtime and harvest,
the regular cycle of life that we know and depend on.
You have blessed us in so much:
teach us to use all your gifts wisely.
We thank you for the rich resources of this planet,
and for all those who labour in different ways
to make them accessible to us.
You have blessed us in so much:
teach us to use all your gifts wisely.
We thank you for minds with which to understand,
enquire and learn,
for senses with which to see, hear, smell, taste and touch,
and for health to enjoy, savour and celebrate.
You have blessed us in so much:
teach us to use all your gifts wisely.
Forgive us that sometimes we lose our sense of thankfulness,
becoming complacent and over-familiar
with the richness of creation.
Forgive us for taking your many gifts for granted,
forgetting them,
squandering them,
even abusing them.
You have blessed us in so much:
teach us to use all your gifts wisely.
Loving God,
give us a new sense of joy and gladness,
hearts that are truly thankful.
Help us to recognise again the awesome riches of creation,
and to rejoice in the blessings which you shower upon us.
You have blessed us in so much:
teach us to use all your gifts wisely.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.