The Reflectionary

Spelling out the word HARVEST, this uses road signs to help us think about topics for prayer, particularly concerned with our roles as stewards of God’s earth. It is suitable for all-age worship, for an assembly, for a youth-led service or for a midweek group.

It includes a confession for the first section. You can substitute prayer for those suffering in body, mind or spirit, if you prefer.

You can allow time between the section for silent prayer, or you can use a standard response. You can intersperse the sections with songs or other parts of the service, or you can smoosh them all up together. See what works for you.

H – Hospital

This H shows a hospital, where broken bodies are mended and those who are sick find healing.

Our souls need healing too, when we do wrong things and spoil the beautiful world God has made.

Let us pray to God, saying sorry for wrong things we have said or done, and for when we have not looked after the planet and each other.

…

Lord, in your mercy,

Hear our prayer.

A – A Road

This sign shows the way to go. Lorries that transport food use signs like these to reach the supermarkets.

Everyday, millions of people around the world do not have enough food to eat. Some of those people live in our country too.

Let us pray to God, that the world’s resources would be more fairly shared, and that we who live in rich countries would do more to help our sisters and brothers who do not have access to good food, clean water, healthcare or education.

…

Lord, in your mercy,

Hear our prayer.

R – Ring Road

A ring road takes traffic around a city instead of through it. This helps to reduce pollution.

Our world is suffering because of the way we have been polluting it, with plastics, fossil fuels and toxins.

Let us pray to God, that science will continue to find solutions that can reduce the damage we have done to his world, and that we may all work towards caring for the plants and animals that share it with us.

…

Lord, in your mercy,

Hear our prayer.

V – V Fest

This sign shows the way to a festival so that everyone will go the same way, meet together and celebrate.

Our church is a gathering of people who are all going the same way, and we can come together and celebrate.

Let us pray to God, that we might live as God’s family, showing his love and joy to those around us, and celebrating his goodness. Let us thank God for his bounty in creation, and for the beauty that we see in nature and in his people.

…

Lord, in your mercy,

Hear our prayer.

E – Electric Charging

This sign shows where you can recharge an electric car.

The fields also need to recharge over winter after the harvest, ready for the new planting in spring. We need recharging too. We need to ‘plug in’ to God daily to be filled up with his Holy Spirit.

Let us pray to God, that we might find our rest in him and be charged up with fresh joy. Let us also pray for those who are feeling far from God and for those who do not know him yet, that they may find their souls filled and revived, like new shoots in spring.

…

Lord, in your mercy,

Hear our prayer.

S – S Bends

This sign warns us that the road ahead is full of bends and twists, and that we need to slow down and be careful.

When we have decisions to make, we also need to slow down and be careful. We can ask God to help us, and the leaders of our countries, to make wise decisions that are good for the planet and the people, particularly about climate change and the pandemic.

Let us pray to God, that leaders of all countries would consider the future of the planet in all decisions, that those of us living in richer countries would learn to use fewer resources, that those living in poorer countries would get enough Covid vaccine, and that all of us would slow down and take care in the decisions we make.

…

Lord, in your mercy,

Hear our prayer.

T – T Junction

This sign shows that we are about to have a choice – to go right or go left. Which will we choose?

Jesus told a story about a young man who left his home and ended up starving on a pig farm. He had to choose whether to stay away or to return to the father who loved him. Which would he choose?

He chose to go home.

God asks each one of us to choose – will we stay away, or will we come home to God? This harvest time, we can choose to admire the pretty displays of fruit and flowers and sing the nice songs and then go home as if nothing had changed.

Or we can choose to follow God, to use our lives to make a difference, to get things wrong and be forgiven, to be God’s imperfect people, living lives of love in God’s wonderful world.

Let us pray to God, who loves the lost, and welcomes the wanderer home.

…

Lord, in your mercy,

Hear our prayer.