It's a topic rarely taught on, referred to, or prayed about in most evangelical churches.  But that might be changing.  Thanks to visionary leaders like Dr. Steve Fitch of Eden Reforestation Projects, evangelicals are finally starting to "get it" when it comes to our biblical, theological, and moral responsibility to care for our planet.

Fitch is not the only who has owned-up to this responsibility and stepped-up to the plate by taking action (which he is doing in a tree-mendous way); other Christian leaders -- with both low and high profiles -- are challenging the church to BE the hope of the world in every way, including environmentally.

Where does one begin?  That's an important question -- and one that we might take up here in detail sometime in the future, but this one thing I can offer most assuredly: we should begin by courageously coming before God with confession and petition.

So here's a starting point for us -- a common prayer that Brian McLaren (and others) are encouraging believers to pray this month before world leaders meet in December regarding global environmental needs:

A variety of written text versions of this prayer are available here.

Photo credit: © Tobias Helbig, iStockphoto.com