A Prayer on the Harvest

With harvest nearly over, Mike and I are thankful to God for our bountiful crop and for our continued safety.

Paul tells us in Colossians 3:15-16 to “be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.”

I am reminded of the 2nd stanza from the hymn, Praise and Thanksgiving, by Albert F. Bayly.  It goes like this:

“Bless, Lord, the labor we bring to serve you, that with our neighbor we may be fed.  Sowing or tilling, we would work with you, Harvesting, milling for daily bread.”

As farmers, we serve the Lord through the growth and harvest of our crops.  The average American farmer, in 2018, fed 155 people; a rise from feeding 26 people in 1960.  We are so blessed to hold such fertile ground.

Thank you, Father, for our ability to glean grain from our fields and provide for ourselves and others.  Please continue to be ever-present in our effort to farm this wonderful land.  We praise you, Lord, for the vitality of these fields and your calling to us to provide food for the world.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.