global food crisis
Pray the News – August 20th, 2023
Last time it was my turn to rally us to pray the news, we prayed about chronic hunger. As I checked the news yesterday, I was shocked that the global food crisis has actually gotten worse in the last two months. The World Food Programme says that conflict, economic shocks, climate extremes, and soaring fertilizer prices are combining to create a food crisis of unprecedented proportions, in which more than 750 million people are unsure of where their next meal is coming from. Let’s pray, and let’s also do whatever we can to help those who are hungry.
Isaiah 58:6-7a – “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry?”
God, we pray that you would soften our hearts and make us compassionate like you. Each person is infinitely precious to you because you made them in your image. When we hear of statistics like these, it’s easy to feel numb because it’s too much for us to take in. The vast majority of these people are strangers to us, but not to you. You know and see and care for each one perfectly and completely, just as you know and see and care for each of us. Awaken our hearts, Lord, to care and to put our compassion into action in whatever ways you direct us. We ask you, Lord, to relieve the suffering of the hungry, give justice to the powerless, breathe your peace into places of chaos, and heal damaged land so that it will produce food again. We cry out to you for children, families, communities, and for those who govern, for protection, provision, wisdom, and creative solutions. Please give each one all that they need to flourish and live the abundant life for which you created them. We know that we are easily distracted by our own needs and comforts. Please soften our hearts to the suffering of others, whether we know them or not. Help us to be generous and willing to share whatever you’ve entrusted to us. Have mercy, Lord, have mercy. The needs are great, but you are greater! Come, Holy Spirit! We pray these words from Psalm 36:5-6, “Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains; your judgments are like the great deep; you save humans and animals alike, O Lord.” We pray all these things for the greater glory of God, in the precious and powerful name of Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
