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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Thank you for listening to your daily prayer,

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Speaker 1: where we help you find the words you need to

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Speaker 1: connect to your Father in Heaven. No matter what's happening

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Speaker 1: in your life today, you can trust that God wants

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Speaker 1: to hear from you. Right after the short word from

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Speaker 1: our sponsors, we'll pray through today's prayer for Honoring God

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Speaker 1: through Creation Care. A prayer for Honoring God through Creation

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Speaker 1: Care written by Sophia Bricker, read by Lea Gerard. Now,

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Speaker 1: the Lord God had planted a garden in the east

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Speaker 1: in Eden, and there he put the man he had formed.

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Speaker 1: The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out

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Speaker 1: of the ground, trees that were pleasing to the eye

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Speaker 1: and good for food. In the middle of the garden

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Speaker 1: where the tree of life and the tree of the

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Speaker 1: knowledge of good and evil. The Lord God took the

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Speaker 1: man and put him in the garden of Eden to

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Speaker 1: work it and take care of it. Genesis two, eight

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Speaker 1: through nine, and fifteen. Artificial light often causes confusion for

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Speaker 1: migrating birds. Since most birds migrate during the night, they

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Speaker 1: face a greater risk of being drawn by light, struggling

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Speaker 1: to find rest stops and colliding with buildings. As the

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Speaker 1: US Fish and Wildlife Service notes light pollution caused by

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Speaker 1: humans contributes to birds experiencing tragic collisions, entrapment, and exhaustion.

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Speaker 1: We might not think anything about the lamps we turn

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Speaker 1: on in the evening or the string lights we hang

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Speaker 1: to decorate our yard, but our actions have direct consequences

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Speaker 1: for the creature and environment around us. We see this

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Speaker 1: truth played out on a larger scale if we pause

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Speaker 1: to consider the ongoing problems of land and ocean pollution, deforestation,

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Speaker 1: habitat loss, and the use of pesticides that interfere with

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Speaker 1: pollinators such as monarch, butterflies, and honeybees. From a Biblical perspective,

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Speaker 1: these effects are a result of sin in the world,

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Speaker 1: since creation was subjected to futility after the fall of humankind.

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Speaker 1: Romans eight twenty through twenty three explains that nature groans

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Speaker 1: in this present age as it awaits the renewal of

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Speaker 1: all things. God gave humans the weighty task of stewarding creation.

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Speaker 1: Adam and Eve replaced in a garden to tend and

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Speaker 1: care for it, not as harsh dictators, but as loving gardeners. Somehow,

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Speaker 1: though we've twisted the command from the Lord to be fruitful, multiply,

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Speaker 1: and subdue the earth to mean we can do whatever

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Speaker 1: we please with the plants, trees, oceans, rivers, and animals.

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Speaker 1: Instead of acting as caretakers, we too often act as destroyers.

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Speaker 1: But the command to exercise dominion or control from a

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Speaker 1: position of leadership is balanced by the reminder in Genesis

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Speaker 1: one twenty seven that we were made in the image

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Speaker 1: of God. Our Lord is sovereign over all creation, and

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Speaker 1: everything belongs to him. As Psalm twenty four one tells us,

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Speaker 1: the earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the

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Speaker 1: world and all who live in it. Although he is

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Speaker 1: the ruler of the world, he exercises his authority with

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Speaker 1: justice and mercy. He even watches the tiny sparrow, and

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Speaker 1: we see in Psalm one O. Three ten through eleven

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Speaker 1: that God does not treat us as our sins deserve.

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Speaker 1: Since we're meant to follow the Lord, then will imitate

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Speaker 1: his loving care, grace, justice, and mercy when stewarding what's

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Speaker 1: been entrusted to us. Each one of us can choose

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Speaker 1: to honor God through the way we interact with the environment.

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Speaker 1: We might not be able to control whether large buildings

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Speaker 1: in our city leave their lights on at night, or

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Speaker 1: the way governments around the world are cutting down trees.

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Speaker 1: But we can control how we live, like making our

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Speaker 1: windows bird friendly and reducing nighttime light exposure, planting a sapling,

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Speaker 1: starting a pesticide free pollinator garden, properly treating the animals

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Speaker 1: under our care, or cleaning up litter in parks. As

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Speaker 1: we act as stewards, we can praise the Lord for

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Speaker 1: breaking the curse of sin and giving us the promise

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Speaker 1: of creation's renewal. Let's pray, Maker of Heaven and her as.

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Speaker 1: I confess that I often overlook the proper care of

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Speaker 1: your creation, thinking it's not as spiritual as other matters.

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Speaker 1: But your word tells me that you entrusted the care

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Speaker 1: of creation to humans, and that the future of nature

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Speaker 1: is intricately tied to the resurrection of our bodies and

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Speaker 1: the renewal of all things. Since I also have the

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Speaker 1: responsibility to properly steward the resources you've entrusted me, help

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Speaker 1: me to do so in a way that glorifies you. Man.

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Speaker 1: I not only love the birds for their songs, and

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Speaker 1: the trees for their shade, or the rivers for their

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Speaker 1: calming beauty, but also care for them is an extension

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Speaker 1: of my love for you. I want to be a

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Speaker 1: good steward of the world's resources and imitate your compassion

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Speaker 1: and justice as they interact with the creatures and environment

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Speaker 1: around me. Guide me, Lord, by your Holy Spirit, to

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Speaker 1: honor you with the decisions I make. In Jesus name,

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Speaker 1: I pray Amen. Your Daily Prayer is a production of

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Speaker 1: Life Audio and Salem Media. You liked what you heard today,

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Speaker 1: be sure to follow our sister show your nightly prayer.

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Speaker 1: prayer and your nightly prayer, you can be sure that

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Speaker 1: your day begins and ends centered on the Word of

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