A prayer for Forests provided by Dr. Elizabeth Perry

Let the trees of the forest sing,
    let them sing for joy before the Lord,
    for he comes to judge the earth. 1 Chronicles 16:33 

For you shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing; and all the trees of the fields shall clap their hands. Isaiah 55:12  

Down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Revelation 22:2 

Creator God, 
We praise you with grateful hearts for the trees of the earth – for forests ancient and young, for seedlings pushing through dark soil and for great canopies that stretch toward heaven in silent worship. From the beginning you spoke life into the land and called forth trees bearing fruit, pleasing to the eye and good for nourishment. You planted a garden before humanity built a city, and beneath living branches you chose to walk with your children. 

Thank you for the countless gifts trees share: for shade in heat, for fruit that feeds and air made clean for every breath we take. In their seasons of budding, flourishing and rest, teach us again the wisdom you have written into creation – patience, faithfulness, and quiet endurance. As Scripture describes the righteous as trees planted by living water, root us deeply in your love so that our lives may bear good fruit for others. 

Forgive us, Lord, when we have treated forests as possessions rather than neighbours in your creation; when haste, greed or indifference has led us to wound what you declared good. Turn our hearts from careless consumption to grateful stewardship. Give us eyes to see wonder where we once saw only resources and humility to remember that the earth is yours and we are its caretakers for a time. 

Teach us to listen as creation praises you. When trees clap their hands and forests sing for joy, may we not silence their song through neglect or destruction. Form in us a reverence that chooses restoration over waste, planting over stripping bare, healing over harm. May our communities, churches and nations grow in wisdom, seeking ways to live gently within the abundance you provide. 

We pray for the protection of forests across the world – for rainforests and woodlands, mangroves and mountain groves, for places known and unseen. Guard them from fire and disease, from exploitation and violence. Strengthen those who work to preserve them: Indigenous guardians, scientists, farmers, and all who labour to restore what has been lost. Where forests have fallen, bring renewal; where soil is wounded, send life again. 

And as the tree of life stands beside the river in your coming Kingdom, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations, make forests even now signs of that promised restoration. Let their presence remind humanity of your generosity and your desire to heal all creation. 

May our lives join the chorus of the forests – rooted in Christ, growing in grace, and bearing fruit that blesses the world – until the day when all creation rejoices before you. 

Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
Amen. 

Another prayer for forests here

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