• Home
  • About
  • Books
    • My Father is the Gardener
    • God’s Word for Gardeners Bible
  • Devotions Blog
  • Events
  • News
  • Plant Guide
    • Plant Index – God’s Word for Gardeners
    • Plant Research
    • A-to-Z Primer of Plants from God’s Word
  • Contact
  • Search

Mobile Menu

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Home
  • About
  • Books
    • My Father is the Gardener
    • God’s Word for Gardeners Bible
  • Devotions Blog
  • Events
  • News
  • Plant Guide
    • Plant Index – God’s Word for Gardeners
    • Plant Research
    • A-to-Z Primer of Plants from God’s Word
  • Contact
  • Search
  • Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to main content

Garden In Delight

Grow your garden, flourish your faith

Header Left

  • Home
  • About
  • Books
    • My Father is the Gardener
    • God’s Word for Gardeners Bible
  • Devotions Blog
  • Events
  • News
  • Plant Guide
    • Plant Index – God’s Word for Gardeners
    • Plant Research
    • A-to-Z Primer of Plants from God’s Word
  • Contact
  • Search
  • Home
  • About
  • Books
    • My Father is the Gardener
    • God’s Word for Gardeners Bible
  • Devotions Blog
  • Events
  • News
  • Plant Guide
    • Plant Index – God’s Word for Gardeners
    • Plant Research
    • A-to-Z Primer of Plants from God’s Word
  • Contact
  • Search

National Day of Prayer

Home » Book Excerpts » National Day of Prayer

by Shelley S. Cramm In: Book Excerpts, Garden Prayers on May 1, 2014

Celebrate the hope of transforming our nation through prayer with a devotion from the NIV God’s Word for Gardeners Bible and may God bless America!

Tools of National Peace

They will beat their swords into plowshares. ~Micah 4 :3

Read: Micah 4:3 – 5

Oil & Sharpen with: Psalm 128:1 – 6; Ecclesiastes 5:19 – 20; James 4:1 – 3
The time comes to stop fighting and start working; gardeners and farmers, we can be encouraged that our garden tools are at the heart of the Bible’s imagery for such a time of peace (verse 3; Ecclesiastes 3:8). Peaceful times are working times, and our occupations of preparing the soil for crops, pruning fruit trees and grapevines, taking care so that all is in order for bearing fruit, lead the way in recovering from times of war.

Dad never called what he did organic farming but it was: The farm was full of life, full of many lives that worked to grow  more life that would then sustain others’ lives. — David Mas Masumoto, Wisdom of the Last Farmer, 2009

God’s Word gives a wonderful precedent for the establishment of peace: Everyone will have their own land to work — fields, vineyards, orchards or community garden plots that represent the provision of God to the individual (Micah 4:4). In other words, a happy, peaceful, prosperous nation begins at ground level, an assembly of individual people, each working with gladness of heart (Ecclesiastes 5:20), embracing the rigors of their own livelihood without coveting another’s (Exodus 20:17; James 4:2). God’s word pictures the fruitful household, its goodness around the family dinner table (Psalm 128:3), critical components of peace for the whole nation of Israel (Psalm 128:6).

Passing the bean-and-barely stew, the crew make  it clear that . . . they’re motivated by a love of farming and by a belief  that small, local community farms hold the prospect of a better future for the world and for them. Sharing the daily gleanings at a long picnic table feels almost sacred. — Carol Ness, Slow Food Nation’s Come to the Table, edited by Katrina Heron, 2008

Prayer: O merciful God, you show me how important are the tools in my hand; my personal work endeavors bless my nation with security and peace. Whatever tools I need, I will ask you for (James 4:2). Purify me from the tendency to envy my neighbors and take from them instead of simply asking you. Your vision of “world peace” begins with you and me and my  garden tools.

This excerpt appears in the Garden Tools section of the book as part of a week’s essays on Peace, page 1034.

FacebookTwitterShare

Related Posts

You may be interested in these posts from the same category.

Shelley's new book My Father is the Gardener photographed in rose petals

Preview my New Book

flax flowers bring us to Isaiah 19 and God's redemption

Flax Flowers and God’s Redemption

Parable of the Fig Tree told by a home garden fig

One More Year: Parable of the Fig Tree

saving mustard seeds leads prayers to parable of the sower

Parable of the Sower Revival Prayer Guide

star of Bethlehem leaves peeking out of snow cover

Find Garden Hope in Psalm 146

crimson bowl of dried corn and pomegraantes decorate a Thanksgiving table

Thanksgiving Devotions

standing wheat in a garden bed with mustard flower background

The Wheat Prayers

herb garden planted for family Thanksgiving feast

Gather Us: An Herb Garden’s Lesson

flag for a July 4th prayer

July 4th Prayer to Ponder

mustard flower in the garden

United in Prayer

olive fruits on branches

Pinnacle of Garden Prayers

garden path invites prayer

Garden Prayers for Persecutors

« Previous
Next »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. planet minecraft

    June 24, 2014 at 1:04 am

    Excellent write-up. I definitely love this website.
    Keep writing!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • A-to-Z Primer of Plants from God’s Word
  • About Shelley S. Cramm
  • Blog
  • Book Table
  • Books
  • Checkout
  • Contact
  • Continuing the Biblical Botanical Gift Book Series
  • Devotions Blog
  • Events
  • Events & Speaking
  • Family Garden
  • God’s Word for Gardeners Bible
  • Home
  • In the News garden in Delight links
  • Modern Calendars Page
  • News
  • Plant Guide
  • Plant Index – God’s Word for Gardeners
  • Plant Research
  • Proclamation of Faith
  • Resources
  • Speaking Calendar
  • Speaking Topics
  • test events

Site Footer

Garden in Delight - with Author Shelley Cramm
FacebookInstagramPinterestLinkedIn

Keep in touch with garden in Delight

Your information will never be shared with any third party.

Copyright © 2023 · Isaac Gardens, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Website by Stormhill Media
Log in