Prayer for Rain
Praying for rain is very Biblical because Israel depended greatly on the usual arrival of the winter and spring rains to grow their crops in a semi-arid climate. Here is a prayer for rain that can be used individually or can be used in church services or prayer groups.
Prayer for Rain
Dear Creator of the World, We pray for asking for your mercy and favor for those places on Your good earth in need of your nourishing, healing rain. We confess that we often live our lives under the false illusion that we are independent and can provide for ourselves. Yet in times of drought we realize how utterly dependent we are on You to meet our basic need for life-giving water. We need water to drink, water to grow our food and rain for the fields and forests to prevent destructive fires.
We pray You will help us find a small measure of the faith that James spoke of in the Bible when he said, “Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again the prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.” (James 5:17,18)
Please hear our prayer for rain even though we know that we are not worthy of any of the blessings You continually give us. Yet Jesus told us, “But I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:44,45) We thank You that you cause the rain to bless us, even when we are not worthy of it. Thank you that you call us your children even when we would wish hardship on or enemies instead of praying that You would bless them.
And so we offer this prayer, not trusting in how deserving we are but rather in how generous You are. We acknowledge You as the source of all good gifts as Hosea says, “Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.” (Hosea 6:3) We thank you that rain is an expression of Your enduring presence and love as it says in Psalm 72:5,6 “He will endure as long as the sun, as long as the moon, through all generations. He will be like rain falling on a mown field, like showers watering the earth.”
May we be good stewards of the rain You send, treating it as a precious gift and doing our best to conserve and use it wisely. Likewise let us also be open to Your spirit as it says in Hebrews 6:7 “Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God.”
May we continue to look to You for everything we need in our lives. Amen.
Copyright Karen Barber 2012. All rights reserved.
