BATON ROUGE, LA – Amid the record heat and the devastating fires across Louisiana, Attorney General Jeff Landry is calling on the people of our State to join him in prayer for rain:

Dear Lord,

News of deaths this Summer from heat and fire have devastated our communities. Wildfires now threaten our land, as the grass is brown and the rivers are low. Without cover of green - the soil becomes dirt, the clay is baked, and dry brush threatens destruction by fire. This land we call home depends upon the grasses to keep the soil moist, to hold our edges firm, and to feed the herds of cattle. Yet drought has brought danger and the thick haze of smoke, which is why we now pray for rain.

We are grateful to you, Father, for the abundance of our State where the warmth of three growing seasons produces plentiful food for our people and those across our Nation. But now our plants are withering and weak without the water to sustain them. Green has turned to brown, hay must be shipped in for our livestock, and the heat is causing our chickens and dogs great harm. We look out on the horizon for rain – even in our Hurricane Season – but very little has come.

Light drizzle of rain barely kisses the surface and will never touch the roots. That is why we pray for water and shade. We rejoice in the beauty of Your creation in all of its cycles; but for the plants to be nourished, the fires to stop, the animals to be fed, and our people able to thrive – we desperately need the grace of rain.

And so we pray for our farmers, our timber industry, our land, and our people. We pray for safety and water; we pray for nourishment and calm; we pray for our first responders; and we pray for our neighbors we have lost and the families they leave behind. May rain help to soothe these wounds so that we may begin again.

Amen.