Defiant hope - intercessory prayer as spiritual resistance to hopelessness in the climate crisis

Abstract

This paper examines the role of intercessory prayer in how Christian climate activists from the Global North engage with the existential challenges of the climate crisis. Based on a qualitative case study of the evangelical prayer network Climate Intercessors, the research draws on participant observation and interviews, exploring how prayer functions as a spiritual response to despair and uncertainty. The findings show that intercessory prayer fosters solidarity, helps to process climate anxiety and cultivates defiant hope. This is a stance that resists hopelessness while acknowledging human limitations. The research also shows how digital technologies are a tool that connects people from different churches and geographical contexts united by their awareness of the climate crisis. The study contextualizes these findings within lived theology, three empirical case studies by Nita, Hall and Schüler and engages with Jürgen Moltmann’s theology of hope.