From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens when the waters become hard like stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen? (Job 38:29-30 NIV)
I’m cold. I’m sitting on a sofa in a downstairs bedroom that I have repurposed into my own space. In my studio are a big window, plants, books, and some of my favorite things. From this vantage point – wrapped in two warm blankets – I can watch the snow fall and be grateful I am inside where our house furnace keeps us warm.
But I am not warm. As I write this (1/17/26) I was looking up the weather forecast and, at least for the next four weeks, our temperatures are to go from cold to colder, never even breaking the freezing mark. I realize that to live in this area is to expect this type of weather, and I do not want to trade away the beauty and brightness of this snow for other areas’ tornadoes and hurricanes. But when windchills are low enough that ten minutes outside leads to frostbite, humans and animals need extra care.
Today, would you join me in praying for those who need extra care in the cold?
God,
Thank you for the wonder and beauty of your creation, for the seasons you have created, and for the different weather you send. Thank you for the gift of winter, which calls us to quieter, gentler, resting rhythms that help to refresh us and replenish us for the warmer days. Thank you for all those who help to keep our modern homes and other buildings warm, and our roads cleared and passable.
Today we pray for these:
- for people who have no home or warm place to go to; may the people of your Church provide warm shelter, good food, and hope for the future
- for those who keep the heating fuels and electricity going; may they be blessed with full wisdom, health, and energy to do their jobs
- for those whose jobs keep our society functioning, like first responders, delivery drivers, and transporters; we pray for safety, wisdom, and protection
- for pets, livestock, and wild animals that do not have shelter, we pray for appropriate human intervention that will help care for these precious creatures of yours
We pray your angels will take charge over all these to keep them in all of their ways. May they be warm in body, mind, spirit, and relationships, we pray in Jesus’s name. AMEN.
If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. (Psalm 91:9-12 NIV)