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.
Whoever scorns instruction will pay for it, but whoever respects a command is rewarded. (NIV)
If you refuse good advice, you are asking for trouble; follow it and you are safe. (GNB)
Proverbs 13.13
We’ve seen a proverb like this before, more than once!
However, this time I’d like to focus on the word ‘command’. The Good News softens the words to ‘advice’ – instead of ‘instruction’ and ‘command’. When dealing with friends – or in Solomon’s case, advisors who work for us – ‘advice’ is the right word, and we should heed it.
But what about when we are dealing with God? What about when we are reading these proverbs? Many of them could be described as ‘good advice’, and they are – or at least, they would be, if they came from me.
The thing is, they come from God! The Bible is a miracle of authorship, being written both by humans and the Holy Spirit. That means these proverbs are more than good advice – they are instruction, sometimes even commands. And that goes for many other places in the Bible too, both in the Old and the New Testaments.
Do we ‘respect’ God’s instruction and commands? Or do we ‘scorn’ them?
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:
Roger Myring, JoAnne Griffin, Joyce Madeley
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.