40 Days of Prayer 2026! Day 16

We are to be like trees planted by streams of water bearing fruit in season with leaves that never wither. Like trees, we are rooted to what gives us Life.

One of Aidan’s dreams from when he was young, was for us to see what was then thought to be the largest living organism in the world, a network of interconnected aspen trees named Pando.  It looks like a forest of individual trees, but it’s all connected to one giant root system of a forest. These trees communicate and share resources. It’s incredible.

And then, the largest living organism title was given to a network of mycelium in Oregon, and Pando became the second. And later, we learned that the way Pando works isn’t limited to a single forest with a single root. Scientists discovered that in forests all over, trees can communicate and share resources, not because they share one root, but because of a symbiotic relationship between the roots and fungal networks. The fungal networks provide the communication and transfer of resources, and in return are fed extra sugars. They’ve coined it the “wood wide web,” and you should definitely look it up! It’s fascinating.

We used to think forests were a competition for resources. But then we learned that through this network, mother trees provide resources to saplings, and if one area is being attacked by insects, it’ll send out warning to the others to produce compounds that the insects don’t like.

There are trees and plants that take advantage of this and take without contributing, but on the whole, the forests are a community. It’s not survival of the fittest. It’s more like one body with many members, coming together for the good of all, and where the strong help the weak. Sounds familiar.

We usually see nature like unredeemed humanity is, cutthroat and competitive and selfish- survival of the fittest and dog-eat-dog. But sometimes, like these forests, it shows us a picture of God’s Kingdom. How like the community of God the forest is! With our friends in Minnesota, we’re hearing how much it’s like the community that has sprung up there, a network of neighbors protecting neighbors, just like the mother trees of the forest providing for the weaker saplings. Just like the Kingdom of God is meant to function, one Body (Romans 12:4), many members with the strong helping the weak, and the least being the greatest.

We who delight in the law of the Lord, who meditate on it day and night, we who hold Jesus’s words in our hearts and love our neighbors as He loves them. We will be like trees planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in season and whose leaves never wither.

May we continue to be His Body and may we continue to be rooted to what gives us life. And may we remember that trees don’t bear fruit all year. There is a time for bearing fruit and a time for dormancy. We need both.

Options for further  journaling or discussion throughout the challenge:

• Choose a part of the passage to write out by hand. Writing by hand helps us slow down and focus on what the Lord might highlight for us in the passage. Our brains can focus and remember better by writing than just reading alone.
• Journal about what the passage brings to mind. Does the passage tell us anything about God? Does it tell us anything about our response to Him?
• Does your heart respond in gratitude to any part of the passage? Write or pray your gratitude to the Lord.

We’ll see you Monday for Day 17, and Luke 15