Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) are encouraged to pray for the many individuals and communities - including pets and wildlife - whose lives have been affected, impacted and disrupted by the wildfires in Alberta and BC. Let us pray for the safety, care, protection, and support of those who are fighting the fires. The Synod of Alberta and the Territories shares the following prayers as a guide:

Almighty God, who is our strength and our refuge, be with those who are besieged by fire, guide those who evacuate so that they may find care and comfort in a safe place; protect their homes and their pets, their neighbours and their friends, so that they may return home to a loving community. Provide shelter, water, and nourishment for threatened and displaced wildlife. We ask this in the name of Jesus your son, who abides with you and with the Holy Spirit, Amen. (adapted from Episcopal Relief and Development).

O God, whose love encircles us; sustain those who respond when wildfires roar, keep them safe from harm and hold them in your sheltering embrace so that they may complete these burdensome tasks, return home to their families, and keep the lives and homes of all they protect safe from hard, in the living name of Jesus, who gave his life for all. (Episcopal Relief and Development)

We pray to you, Almighty God, in this time of raging wildfires. You are our refuge and our strength, a very present help in time of trouble. Do not let us fall in the face of these events. Uphold us with your love, and give us the strength we need. Help us in our confusion, and guide our actions. Heal the hurt, console the bereaved and afflicted, protect the innocent and helpless, and deliver any who are still in peril; for the sake of your great mercy in Jesus Christ our Lord. (ELW Pastoral Care, pages 386-7)

O God, where hearts are fearful and constricted, grant courage and hope. Where anxiety is infectious and widening, grant peace and reassurance. Where impossibilities close every door and window, grant imagination and resistance. Where spirits are daunted and weakened, grant soaring wings and strengthened dreams. All these things we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, Amen. (ELW p.77)

Write your blessed name, O Lord, upon my heart, there to remain so indelibly graven that no prosperity, no adversity, shall ever move me from your love. Be to me a strong tower of defense, a comforter in tribulation, a deliverer in distress, a very present help in trouble, and a guide to heaven through the many temptations and dangers of this life. (A prayer of Thomas A Kempis - ELW Pastoral Care, page 362)