Please, loving God, bring us rain to renew the ground, replenish our dams, to bring some chance of feed, to bring the possibility of some reward to those who have toiled so hard.  We turn to you in faith and hope.

We pray for our community.  We pray for all those whose lives are under the shadow of drought.  We think first of those who work with the land, for farmers and their families, for those who rely upon the land for their life and relationships.

We pray for contractors, merchants and truck drivers, for rural counsellors and support workers, for all our rural community.

We pray, too, for justice; for fair prices for our stock and our wool and our crops.
We pray for governments, banks and corporations to be driven by the wisdom of community, justice and compassion.

We pray for each other, keep us aware of the needs of those around us:
for those who are struggling, who are grieving, who are ill, who are dying.

Let us see the miracle of healing in relationships, in lives, in communities,
where there is illness and hope is far away.

Keep us always conscious of the task we have in ministry and mission in your world.

May the refreshment of your Spirit, present in miraculous and truly human ways, be with all of us as we move forward into the days ahead.

We offer all these prayers in the name of Jesus.

Amen.