Praying for Rain in a Climate Crisis?

Archbishop Anthony Fisher 

Elijah went up to the top of Carmel;

 there he bowed himself down upon the earth and put his face between his knees. 

He said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” 

He went up and looked, and said, “There is nothing.” 

Then he said, “Go again seven times.”  

At the seventh time he said, “Look, a little cloud no bigger than a person’s hand is rising out of the sea.” 

Then he said, “Go say to Ahab, ‘Harness your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’” 

 In a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind; there was a heavy rain

1 Kings 18:42-46 (NRSV)

 ...so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; 

for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good,

 and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.

Matthew 5:45 (NRSV)

Yesterday Archbishop Anthony Fisher invited Roman Catholics in Sydney Australia to join him at St Mary’s Cathedral to pray for an end to the massive bushfire crisis and for rain.

I have seen a number of prayers which are responses to this calamity which has gripped virtually the entire continent, leading to the loss of human lives and an estimated billion birds, mammals, and reptiles, as well as vast areas of forest and untold numbers of insects. In addition, thousands have been forced to flee for their lives and in cities residents are attempting to function in the apocalyptic pall of smoke.

Rescued Kangaroos

Should Christians pray for rain in the midst of disaster? It seems so quaint or desperate to ask the Creator to douse the flames of a disaster which has almost certainly been exacerbated by human activity. Australia's current government has denied the imminent threat of the climate crisis and now thousands have taken to the streets in outrage.

Yet if marches are a legitimate response to this crisis prayers surely are as well. They are not a replacement for responsible action about the fires themselves and their causes, but for people of faith to implore God, the maker of all, to bring relief just makes sense. 

Archbishop Fisher composed a Collect for the Mass for Rain: “O God, in whom we live and move and have our being, grant us sufficient rain so that, being supplied with what sustains us in this present life, we may seek more confidently what sustains us for eternity.”

The Rev. Tony Hill, a parish priest in the Diocese of Sandhurst, Victoria, has written “A Prayer in the Face of the Terror of Bushfires.”

“God our loving Father, we are subject to the whims and impulses of our natural world... be with all victims who have lost their homes, their animals, their crops, their livelihood. 

Bless the many volunteers who support our firefighters with food and drink and all those who give to those left with nothing. We pray too for killed or injured wildlife; both native and domestic, and for trees and plant life that have been destroyed.

“Send out your spirit and renew the face of our injured and wounded land and all her people.”