A prayer before doing the shopping
Listen to this daily worship
Micah 6: 8 (NRSVA)
8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
There’s something satisfying about a paper shopping list. In my household it sits at the side of the fridge and can be added to when we run out of something. Since there are a few of us doing the shopping, a list also keeps us from too much duplication.
In general, I am shopping more attentively these days. Partly because of cost increases, partly to accommodate different dietary needs, partly out of an effort to choose things that are local and/or sustainable.
We’re often reminded in the church that prayer isn’t supposed to be a shopping list, full of our demands. But what if we flipped that on its head and prayed a shopping prayer, asking God to put on the list the things that God wants us to add into our lives.
PRAYER:
Generous God
My list is full, as usual, with all the things I need,
But I’m leaving some space today for you to fill
I’ve written down three headings:
Justice, kindness, humility
As I shop today, could you fill those columns as we go?
Maybe I can pay a little extra to make sure something is ethically sourced,
Or pop something into the foodbank basket,
Or put something back which I don’t really need.
Or maybe you want me to bite my tongue when the person in front of me takes the bargain I had my eye on,
Or to smile at the harassed parent whose toddler careens into me with her trolley
Or to share a word of encouragement with the bored teenager who serves me at the till.
Whatever my basket holds today, help me to focus on your list, not mine.
Amen
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