Opening Prayers/Prayers of Adoration on Nature

O God, You amaze us! Summer is the time You designed for thunderstorms. We understand the science because You gave human beings wisdom and curiosity, and the ability to try to figure things out. We understand that thunder happens when lightning suddenly heats the air and it explodes. But why did You make the lightning so hot? And why did You make the thunder so loud? Are either necessary? Or did You arrange things this way to get our attention? Is that why the Bible calls thunder the voice of God? 

There is so much we don’t know. Because we are just people, and You are the awesome God. We don’t know much but You have told us that all of creation is designed to bring You glory. So help us, the next time we see lightning or hear the thunder, to join with creation’s praise. May it shake us out of our indifference and make us focus on Your presence and power and goodness. Then, and now, we praise You, we worship You, we humble ourselves before You. Amen.

Julie Olive Hughes

O Lord. You created the stars and named every one of them. We have named some of the clusters like Pleiades or Orion. The Big and Little Dippers, Aquarius, Libra, Andromeda. But we can’t name them all. You challenged Abraham to count them, and of course, he couldn’t. Not with 100 billion stars in just the Milky Way galaxy. Today, we’re no better off, even with the Hubble telescope. Instead, the pictures it sent us just confirm how silly it would be to try to number them. Why did You create so many, O God? Was it a simple expression of Your power? Was is a spontaneous desire to bring great beauty out of Your nature? Was it to prove to humans beings how insignificant we are in ourselves? 

How little we know after centuries of studying? We don’t know. But we cry out with King David, When [we] look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you set in place—what are mere mortals that You should think about them? [What are] human beings that You should care for them? We are humbled. We are drawn into worship. Accept our praise. Amen.

Julie Olive Hughes