Praying the Hours for Our Planet
These prayers for our planet were originally written by Rev. Jay Horton and designed to support Georgia Interfaith Power & Light’s 2025 Climate Vigil, but offer a powerful way for people around the world to mark time with intention and ground faithful community in the sacred work of justice, compassion, and care for our Common Home. As you journey through these hours, may you feel joined by others in spirit and purpose. May this time be holy. And may you be deepened in your love for Sacred Earth and strengthened in your resolve to protect it.
8 A.M. – Morning Moment of Reflection
Beloved, as we begin this 24-hour Climate Vigil and welcome a new day, you are invited you to pause. Wherever you are—standing, sitting, walking—take a deep breath. Let it fill your lungs. Let it ground you.
Center yourself in the presence of the Divine, who breathes through all things. Center yourself in the sacred work before us—the work of love, justice, and care for our shared home. Let us remember: we are people of energy, receiving and returning it, moving in rhythm with the heartbeat of Sacred Earth. We are formed from soil and stardust, carried forward by the stories and sacrifices of those who came before us.
Let us remain humble in our attitudes and actions, mindful that we do not exist alone. As Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.”
So we give thanks—
For the breath in our lungs.
For the pulse in our bodies.
For the resilience in our spirits.
For this Sacred Earth and the miracle of life.
May this vigil, and the next 24 hours, be a holy time of awakening for you and your communities. May it deepen our connection to one another and to the world around us. May it renew our courage, our compassion, and our commitment to this Common Home.
In the name of the Holy, we pray. Amen.
NOON – Moment of Lament
As the day unfolds, we come together again from varying walks of life to lament and acknowledge our collective grief for our planet and her people.
Oh, how we have failed to live in ways that respect the sacredness of the Earth and the inherent dignity of all people. We have squandered her gifts, ignored her warnings, and chosen convenience over care. We continue to burn fossil fuels, waste precious resources, and turn away from those most affected by environmental degradation.
Forgive us, we pray. Set us free from habits of harm, and open our hearts to new ways of living and loving—ways that honor the sacredness of all, that heal what we have broken, and that lead to justice, courage, and peace. Amen.
In the subsequent hours, take time to pause. Offer your own personal confessions, naming what weighs on your heart, and releasing it into the presence of mercy.
4 P.M. – Moment of Courage
This afternoon, we come asking the Divine for strength. Life is not always easy, and doing what is right is often difficult. The path of justice and compassion can be steep and uncertain. It frequently comes with risk, sacrifice, and discomfort. And yet we are not alone.
Remind us that we are part of a larger story woven together across generations, communities, and ecosystems. Let us not be conformed to the current practices of corporations and consumerism, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we can discern what is good and pleasing and right for all life.
Give us courage not only to believe, but to act. To speak out when silence is easier. To love when hate is louder. To resist apathy and embrace hope.
As we work, advocate, and build together, may our faith deepen, our visions broaden, and our hearts remain open so that we may continue to act with love and move forward with conviction.
8 P.M. – Moment of Patience
In the quiet of the evening, we turn to patience. We remember: the Earth was not spoken into being in a single moment, and it will not be healed in one either. The rivers were carved by time. The forests grew ring by ring.
So too must we learn to wait. To breathe. To trust the long arc of transformation.
We are but stewards of this land for a season—a brief but sacred breath in the long life of this world. We are called to plant and water seeds that we may never see bloom, and to lay foundations for futures we may not inhabit.
Some days, the work feels fruitless. Some efforts fall on rocky soil or are scorched by the sun. Still, we labor. Still, we hope.
O great Divine,
Grant us grace in the waiting and strength in the in-between.
Give us wisdom to know where our efforts are most needed, and compassion when our limits rise to meet us.
Help us to be gentle with ourselves, to rest when we are weary, to trust that even fallow ground is part of the cycle of growth. Amen.
MIDNIGHT – Moment of Gratitude
In the stillness of midnight, we give thanks.
For breath that fills our lungs without our asking.
For community that holds us when the world feels too heavy.
For the quiet work of the Divine—always unfolding, always near.
We are grateful for all that was realized yesterday: the hard conversations we braved, the gentle moments we received, and the small victories that reminded us we are not alone.
And we lift our hearts with hope for what this new day may bring—possibility, restoration, surprise.
May we never cease in our thanksgiving—
For the Earth that grounds us,
The air that carries our prayers,
And the water that renews our spirits.
Each is a gift, freely given and too often forgotten.
We remember the blessings of this life—
The ones named (lift up thanksgivings for the world) and unnamed,
The ones we hold close (lift up blessings personal to you) and the ones we’ve yet to recognize.
We give thanks for those with whom we share this Common Home:
The neighbor, the stranger, the creature, the kin.
O Divine Presence,
As night gives way to dawn,
Teach us to walk gently,
Live gratefully,
And love courageously—
In all the hours to come. Amen.
4 A.M. – Moment of Resolve
Before dawn, we yawn and stretch—waking not just our bodies, but our minds and spirits. In these early hours, we recommit ourselves to the work of justice and compassion in this aching and beautiful world.
We pray, O Divine, for steady hearts, faithful hands, and courage that does not falter. The Holy has anointed each of us for such a time as this, and beckons us to invite others into the sacred labor that lies ahead. May we remember, we never move alone.
Like the persistent widow in Jesus’ parable, who refused to give up on justice,
Like the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), who stood firm in his message despite persecution,
Like the Buddha, who sat beneath the Bodhi tree in steadfast pursuit of enlightenment,
Like the prophet Miriam, who led with song and strength through the wilderness,
Like the countless ancestors and visionaries across faiths and generations—
We, too, will not be silenced.
We, too, will show up again and again.
We will continue to advocate before our legislators and public service commissioners for cleaner energy, cleaner water, and a healthier planet.
In this quiet hour, may we hear the whisper of the Holy, reminding us:
You are called.
You are not alone.
Keep going. Amen.
8 A.M. – Moment of Renewal
As we conclude this 24-hour Climate Vigil, I invite you to return to the beginning—renewed by the journey, steadied by grace, and stirred by love.
Breathe in the collective strength, compassion, and wisdom shared across this sacred time. Let it fill your lungs and settle in your bones.
In these hours, we have prayed and fasted, mourned and hoped, remembered and recommitted. We have joined voices across geography and tradition, bearing witness to both the ache of our warming world and the resilient spirit of our shared humanity.
Let us now rise—restored with Spirit and sustained by Sacred Earth.
Rise, knowing that you are not alone.
Rise, knowing that you are held in a great web of care and interconnection.
Rise, called and equipped by the Divine to be co-creators of hope and healing.
Go forth with courage.
Tend to the soil.
Speak truth.
Seek justice.
Sow joy.
And may your life be a living prayer—one that honors the Earth, uplifts the vulnerable, and brings light to all you encounter. Amen.
