Our church building may be closed, but God’s eyes are open and his ears are attentive to our prayers (2 Chronicles 7.15).
Welcome back to the daily proverb!
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Opening
Speak these words out loud:
The Spirit of God has made us;
the breath of the Almighty gives us life.
from Job 33.4
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 prudent keep their knowledge to themselves, but a fool’s heart blurts out folly. (NIV)
Smart people keep quiet about what they know, but stupid people advertise their ignorance. (GNB)
Proverbs 12.23
Learning when to speak, and when not to speak, is an important part of wisdom. We haven’t seen many yet, but a number of the Proverbs are about this. This proverb speaks to me about bragging.
Some people have the right to brag (in a sense) – they are intelligent, well-educated knowledgable. But making sure that everyone knows you are is the surest way to ensure no-one listens – even if they need to hear it!
Other people really don’t have the right to brag. They think and claim to know more than they do – and their ignorance is obvious to anyone who knows more than them. I sometimes have amusing conversations with technical support helplines, before the person realises I used to work in IT and therefore know they’re spouting complete garbage!
Whichever camp we are in (sometimes we’ll be in one, sometimes the other), keep your mouth shut, Solomon says. Be wise about when you share a word of much-needed knowledge, and be wise about keeping quiet on subjects about which you know very little. (Having said that… asking a question about something you don’t know is always ok!)
Forget other people for now – I imagine (like me) you’ve read this and have been identifying the people you know that fit into those camps. Forget them – what about you? Do you need to hear this message to ‘keep quiet’?
Prayers
Pray for Five – pray for your five friends / family from Thy Kingdom Come.
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:
Robert Birbeck, Helen Thompson, Ann Birbeck
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.