Our church building may be closed, but God’s eyes are open and his ears are attentive to our prayers (2 Chronicles 7.15).
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Opening
Speak these words out loud:
The Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead
is living in us;
he who raised Jesus from the dead will give us life
because of his Spirit who lives in us.
from Romans 8.11
Today’s Proverb
Read the proverb through three or four times, slowly. Pause in-between, maybe write it out by hand – savour the words, let them speak deeply to you.
The desire of the righteous ends only in good, but the hope of the wicked only in wrath. (NIV)
What good people want always results in good; when the wicked get what they want, everyone is angry. (GNB)
Proverbs 11.23
This proverb made me think of Jesus’ saying:
‘Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognised by its fruit.’
Matthew 12.33 (NIV)
As we’ve seen before in Proverbs, who we are and what we do has an impact beyond our bathroom mirrors. When we seek good and follow God (i.e. aligning our Lower Story with his Upper Story) the good spreads far and wide, as the fruit of a tree feeds many. Equally, although greed and selfishness may seem to bear ‘good’ fruit to start with – that sort of life only ends in hurting ourselves and others.
This builds on what we saw yesterday: our ‘inner self’ is vitally important, because the fruit we bear reflects the healthiness of our ‘inner self’, our character. The obvious question is: how healthy is your inner self?
In truth, Jesus is exaggerating to make a point here. In reality, most of us bear fruit that is sweet, bitter, juicy, and mouldy, all at the same time! So, let’s be gentle with ourselves. Our hearts are unlikely to be wholly full of only bitterness, anger, pain, greed, selfishness, complaint, and lust.
But I’m afraid they are not free of them either. The degree to which we allow them to control us will determine the kind of the fruit we bear in our lives, and in the lives of others.
So: what kind of godly fruit are you bearing? Is it mostly good, mostly bad – or are you keeping it all to yourself and not bearing any?
Prayers
Our daily prayer sheet includes the names of everyone for whom we have a signed church family directory form – and local parishes and senior church leaders.
Today we are praying for
Robins Family (Daniel, Joanna, Rachel, Steve)
Father, please bless them with your peace, and a deep awareness of your presence with them, every day and in every way.
Please pray for our leaders and healthcare workers, and all those working to keep us safe, well, and fed. Please pray that people would unselfishly put others before themselves, and buy only what they need.
Church Family Prayer
Come Holy Spirit,
and make us one in heart and action,
so that we can serve God faithfully:
abounding in love,
maturing in holiness,
and seeking out the lost.
Help us grow as disciples of Jesus –
in commitment, in depth, and in number –
that we may be a blessing to Amington;
to the glory and praise of God the Father.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.
Closing Prayer
Unless the Lord builds the house,
the builders labour in vain.
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus
the only way to the Father.
Psalm 127.1, Hebrews 12.2 & John 14.6
May Christ our Saviour give us peace.
Amen.