PRAYER FOR NEW ORLEANS

(Inspired by media coverage of Hurricane Katrina)

Words: Nigel Cameron

Tune: The Lakes of Ponchartrain

O God of all Creation who has made all things well:

Why nature rages against us, Lord, only you can tell.

Destruction came with Katrina, she left these floods of pain

From the banks of the Mississippi to the levees of Ponchartrain.

O God, our hope and comforter, be near to those, we pray,

Whose carefree days are over, who have no homes today.

Help those cut off from their loved ones to find them still alive;

And be with those whose family or friends did not survive.

O God of grace, their shelter be, and turn unrest to peace.

Sustain the weak and the hungry; prevent the spread of disease.

If there should be some pleasure in the midst of so much pain,

May roads that lead to nowhere point back to you again.

O God of all Creation we pray for New Orleans.

Bring healing and protection through all life’s changing scenes;

Where floods brought devastation reveal your glory again

From the beautiful Mississippi to the Lakes of Ponchartrain.