Ezekiel 34:26, 27 - I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. 27 The trees will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them.

Blessed Creator,

        In due season You send the showers of renewal and growth.  A nurturing gentle rain that soaks into the seeds and infuses them with a spark of life.   From Your life giving rain, a plant begins to sprout; plants of all kinds a myriad to show Your glory and power of creation.   In many ways O God our hearts, minds and spirits are also seeds and plants in need of Your nourishing rain and power.  For us the seed of faith matures in the fullness of time, lifetimes of learning and growing in our faith and love.   As our faith grows it sends tendrils outwards like a running vine, spreading and growing in various places; sometimes we may not know why we find ourselves in a particular situation; however, it is Your hand, Great Jehovah that guided and placed us there.   Sometimes it is because we are needed to plant the seed of faith and hope, while other times we are meant to nourish and tend the seed as it grows.   Truly Your love and grace are blessings on us, Lord and we eagerly await Your instruction and our chance to act as good stewards for Your plan and tend the garden of life in which we reside for awhile.   May all the blessings You bestow rain upon us and others, and by Your hand the yoke of sin, infirmity, illness, addiction and grief be broken setting all peoples free of the bondage.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.