Israeli oil spill

This week,a pipeline carrying oil between Eilat and Ashkelon was somehow disconnected during maintenance work, flooding 200 acres of a desert nature reserve in southern Israel with millions of liters of crude oil. It is already being called “one of the worst environmental accidents in Israel’s history.”

This passage of environmental blessing from Isaiah is addressed to those who seek righteousness.  Psalm 107:33-34 links environmental blight to wickedness.  It is difficult to discern in a specific situation what factors set the stage for blessing or curse and what was merely happenstance.  In prayers where I don’t know if sin set the stage, I simply say “If.”

Isaiah 51:1-3 (ESV)

“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
you who seek the Lord:
look to the rock from which you were hewn,
and to the quarry from which you were dug.
Look to Abraham your father
and to Sarah who bore you;
for he was but one when I called him,
that I might bless him and multiply him.
For the Lord comforts Zion;
he comforts all her waste places
and makes her wilderness like Eden,
her desert like the garden of the Lord;
joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the voice of song.

Our Father in heaven,

The earth is Yours, Lord, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. All things were made through Christ, for Christ, and by Christ. All things are sustained by Christ’s powerful word.

Is not Israel holy land, holy earth?  If there are spiritual iniquities that set the stage for this defilement, then we humbly ask that You release a spirit of confession and repentance upon the people of this land.

May they seek You, Lord.  Stir in them a hunger for Holy Scripture.

Just as You were present with the three Jewish men in the fiery furnace, in deep humility, we ask for Your presence, protection, and provision for
–those engineers, industrialists, and civic leaders who are seeking solutions to the problem
–the clean up crews
–those whose livelihoods are directly impacted by the disaster
–the creatures of the environment and the food chain

Father, it is our heart’s desire that the holy land, the holy earth will be undefiled.  Amen.

Zechariah 2:12

Prayer Diary Sept 30 (10 favorite Tweets)

These are some Tweets I “favorited” this morning – situations needing prayer.  Organizations needing support.  Articles that challenge us to love others with Jesus’ love, Scripture verses that helped me to pray…

Please #pray with us for #SouthAsia #flooding pic.twitter.com/TMssrZylNS

— Tearfund (@Tearfund) September 30, 2014

DAY 2.pray for courageous health workers who risk their lives to care for Ebola victims. #praytoendebolapic.twitter.com/yCWMBF6vpi

— SIM International (@simintl) September 30, 2014

Click below to see 8 more favorite Tweets.

Ebola: Pray for Liberia’s chief medical officer #PraytoendEbola

Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint.

Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.

Let me dwell in your tent forever! Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings! Selah

(Psalm 61:1-4 ESV)

***

This morning I urge prayer for Liberia’s chief medical officer, Bernice Dahn.   She has been exposed to Ebola.  Her assistant recently died from the disease.  News reports indicate that although she is not showing any symptoms, Bernice Dahn has put herself  and the rest of her staff in strict 21 day quarantine so that she will not infect others.

One of the greatest tragedies of the Ebola outbreak is that it has infected at least  373 health workers in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, killing 208 of those.  Ebola is killing those who are most needed to help these countries fight this epidemic!

Father, we lift up Bernice and her staff to you.  Protect them from contracting Ebola.  Do not allow the virus to have any foothold in their bodies.  Comfort them as they mourn the colleagues and friends who have died from Ebola.  Lord we cry out for protection for all the medical staff and health officials on the frontlines in Liberia.  Give them much wisdom in how to fight this outbreak.  May their efforts show real results and may we see an evident slowing of the spread disease this week, we pray in the name of our merciful Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Father, may Bernice know your presence with her in this time of quarantine. Be her refuge and her shelter.  Protect her from fear.  May this be a time of strengthening as she rests in You. Amen.

 

Sept 29 – Oct 5: A week of prayer for the Ebola Crisis

A number of Christian ministries, notably SIM, have designated Sept 29 – Oct 5 as a week of prayer for the Ebola Crisis.  For more details read our post below, or go to the website Pray to End Ebola or follow #PraytoendEbola on Twitter.

We will be posting daily prayers here at Lent & Beyond, using the Ebola Crisis Prayers tag.

UPDATE:  There is also a Pray to End Ebola facebook page.

#PraytoendEbola – SIM launches a prayer campaign Sept 29 – Oct 5

SIM, an international mission organization who has been on the frontlines of fighting Ebola in West Africa has called for a week of united prayer to fight Ebola.  The dates: September 29 – October 5.

They are making use of Twitter and social media to get the word out and to launch daily updates.  The Twitter hashtag is #PraytoendEbola  and there is a Pray to End Ebola website.

Below is a press release with some details about the prayer campaign.   I (Karen) will try to be posting daily about Ebola for the coming week if at all possible.

Don’t forget you can find all our prayers here at Lent & Beyond for the Ebola crisis using the Ebola Crisis Prayers link.

The SIM Press release:

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sept. 25, 2014 /Christian Newswire/ — SIM (www.sim.org), the global mission organization of which SIM USA (www.simusa.org) is a part, is encouraging Christians around the world to set aside Sept. 29 to Oct. 5 and pray (www.praytoendebola.org) that God would stop the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa.

SIM encourages prayer specifically for the people of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, where the Ebola outbreak has been most severe. According to the World Health Organization, nearly 3,000 people already have died from Ebola, and more than 6,200 probable, confirmed and suspected cases of the disease have been reported. Experts say infections from the Ebola epidemic could soar to 1.4 million by mid-January.

“Our aim is that prayers will be raised continually throughout the entire week on behalf of those infected and affected by the Ebola virus,” said Joshua Bogunjoko, international director of SIM. “Though we are troubled by this outbreak, we do not despair. Though we grieve, we are not without hope. For two millennia, the church has prioritized the sick and marginalized. We are called to do no less today.”

Earthquakes

Psalm 75:2-3 (ESV)
“At the set time that I appoint
I will judge with equity.
When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants,
it is I who keep steady its pillars. Selah

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.  Amen.

Flooding in Somerset Levels–Muchelney

Muchelney has the parish Church of St. Peter and St. Paul. I found no weekly Sunday services listed.

Psalm 68:24-35 MSG
See God on parade
to the sanctuary, my God,
my King on the march!
Singers out front, the band behind,
maidens in the middle with castanets.
The whole choir blesses God. . . .

Rebuke that old crocodile, Egypt,
with her herd of wild bulls and calves,
Rapacious in her lust for silver,
crushing peoples, spoiling for a fight.
Let Egyptian traders bring blue cloth
and Cush come running to God, her hands outstretched.

Sing, O kings of the earth!
Sing praises to the Lord!
There he is: Sky-Rider,
striding the ancient skies.
Listen—he’s calling in thunder,
rumbling, rolling thunder.
Call out “Bravo!” to God,
the High God of Israel.
His splendor and strength
rise huge as thunderheads.
A terrible beauty, O God,
streams from your sanctuary.
It’s Israel’s strong God! He gives
power and might to his people!
O you, his people—bless God!

Our Father in heaven,
I do not know all the forces afoot to block the weekly worship of You in Muchelney. Rebuke them, we pray, and fill the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul with music and praise. Amen.

Flooding in Somerset Levels–Muchelney

Psalm 68:17-22 MSG
The chariots of God, twice ten thousand,
and thousands more besides,
The Lord in the lead, riding down Sinai—
straight to the Holy Place!
You climbed to the High Place, captives in tow,
your arms full of booty from rebels,
And now you sit there in state,
God, sovereign God!
Blessed be the Lord—
day after day he carries us along.
He’s our Savior, our God, oh yes!
He’s God-for-us, he’s God-who-saves-us.
Lord God knows all
death’s ins and outs.
What’s more, he made heads roll,
split the skulls of the enemy
As he marched out of heaven,
saying, “I tied up the Dragon in knots,
put a muzzle on the Deep Blue Sea.”

Sovereign God,
Blessed be Your name in Muchelney!

Flooding in Somerset Levels–Muchelney

Psalm 68:11-14 (ESV)
The Lord gives the word;
the women who announce the news are a great host:
“The kings of the armies—they flee, they flee!”
The women at home divide the spoil—
though you men lie among the sheepfolds—
the wings of a dove covered with silver,
its pinions with shimmering gold.
When the Almighty scatters kings there,
let snow fall on Zalmon.

Almighty God, if there are any demonic kings who hold sway over Muchelney, give the word and scatter them. Amen.

Floods in Somerset Levels–Muchelney

Psalm 68:5-10 (NKJV)
A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows,
Is God in His holy habitation.
God sets the solitary in families;
He brings out those who are bound into prosperity;
But the rebellious dwell in a dry land.
O God, when You went out before Your people,
When You marched through the wilderness, Selah
The earth shook;
The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God;
Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
You, O God, sent a plentiful rain,
Whereby You confirmed Your inheritance,
When it was weary.
Your congregation dwelt in it;
You, O God, provided from Your goodness for the poor.

Was not Your name proclaimed in Muchelney for over 1000 years? Was not Muchelney once a place for the distribution of alms? We declare she is Your inheritance. Confirm Your inheritance, we pray. Provide for the poor and afflicted. In Your goodness, call Muchelney out of a spiritually barren land. Amen.

Flood in the Somerset Levels–Muchelney

Psalm 68:1-4 (NKJV), adapted
Let God arise,
Let His enemies be scattered;
Let those also who hate Him flee before Him.
As smoke is driven away,
So drive them away;
As wax melts before the fire,
So let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
But let the righteous be glad;
Let them rejoice before God;
Yes, let them rejoice exceedingly.

Sing to God, Muchelney, sing praises to His name;
Extol Him who rides on the clouds,
By His name YAH,
And rejoice before Him.

Flood in the Somerset Levels–Muchelney

From Wikipedia: Muchelney is a village in Somerset, England (Diocese of Bath and Wells), on the River Parrett. The village is best known as the site of Muchelney Abbey, a Benedictine abbey founded by King Athelstan in 939, and largely demolished in the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538. Architectural details of houses in the surrounding area are thought to incorporate fragments scavenged when the Abbey was destroyed.
The site of the Abbey was effectively an island in the marshy and frequently flooded Somerset Levels. It was therefore an ideal religious retreat. The name Muchelney means great island. There is believed to have been a religious building erected on the site as early as 693. Alms were distributed from the almonry.

Every summer, the village hosts Lowland games, including a battle of the bands, the winner of which goes to the Glastonbury Festival. (The Glastonbury Festival is an event that raises money for charity but also has associated neopaganism and drugs).

Job 14:7-9 (ESV)
“For there is hope for a tree,
if it be cut down, that it will sprout again,
and that its shoots will not cease.
Though its root grow old in the earth,
and its stump die in the soil,
yet at the scent of water it will bud
and put out branches like a young plant.

May it be so for Muchelney, dear Lord.
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. We stand in agreement with the word of God read aloud through the millennium in Muchelney. We stand in agreement with this scripture.
New growth for the kingdom of God in Muchelney! New growth!

A news report on Muchelney can be found here.

Flood in Somerset Levels

The following was originally posted after Katrina. From the winter 2006 issue of Cowley, the periodical of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist. I changed the prayer from first person to third person.

Lord, God of the Universe, creator and sustainer of all life,
Grant the people of the Somerset Levels the serenity to respond to disaster in bold faith, seeking not certainty, but rather the assurance of your abiding presence. Grant them hope when they spiral into despair and fill their broken hearts with the love with which you surround them. As they rebuild, guide each hammer and nail with a ring of hope; bless each bandage and conversation with the balm of healing, and strengthen each resolve with the blessed assurance that all manner of things shall be well, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Flood in Somerset Levels

Our Father in heaven,
The cattle on a thousand hills are Yours. Every beast of the forest is Yours. The livestock on the Somerset Levels are Yours. Protect them, we pray. Amen.
Psalm 50:10

Flooding in the Diocese of Bath and Wells

Flooding in the Somerset Levels is reported. From the Diocese of Bath and Wells—

Please pray for the:
Emotional and physical wellbeing of all who are affected by the floods
Feelings of abandonment by authorities and decision makers
Lack of local, official leadership to bring about relief
Need of strong support nationally and locally
Long term mental, spiritual and emotional health implications
Severe economic hardship for families and businesses (For example, in a 1.5 mile stretch of road we have about 12 businesses – some self-employed single handers through to bigger enterprises).
Major, adverse long term impact on agriculture, the soil health and productivity, livestock welfare and land values.
Need for effective local and national advocacy by informed, empathetic voices. Pray such people may rise up.
Heavenly wisdom and compassion from Somerset Community Foundation and other grant making bodies in grant allocation.
Stamina and perseverance of those having to continue to work in these conditions, especially those caring for their animals.
Farmers who will be lambing at the moment – the prospect of turning out young lambs is daunting.
Communities being strengthened in affected areas – neighbours helping each other.
Agricultural supply companies, who have been offering financial help and the farmers who are offering their time to go and work on affected farms to give those under pressure a bit of breathing space.
Those with deep worries about adverse impact on house values affecting reselling and insurance hikes.

A prayer for our intercessions

We commend to your fatherly goodness all who are in any way afflicted or distressed, in mind, body or situation; we especially remember those enduring the flooding and its aftermath.

Comfort and relieve them in their need, give them patience in their sufferings and hardships, and please bring good out of all their afflictions.