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.

Proverbs 13.19

I’d like to focus on the second half of this proverb today – partly because I love the way the Good News often translates the word for ‘fool’s as ‘stupid people’. It’s so much more vivid!

And of course this proverb is about everyone else, all those idiots who don’t listen to reason, who plough on regardless, ignoring all the warnings, doing whatever they please… The word ‘evil’ here probably makes most of us think of things that other people do: things that maybe end in jail time?

But what if our barometer of good and evil were broken? What if your understanding of ‘evil’ needs correcting? What if the lens through which you look at the world is cracked and broken?

Friends, that is what the Bible teaches us. This proverb is not for ‘those stupid people over there’, it’s for ‘this stupid person here’ who doesn’t realise the Bible is talking to me!

Is it easy to stop you when you’re in full flow? When you think you’re right, is it easy to convince you otherwise? Very few people could answer ‘yes’ to those two questions!

What ‘evil’ behaviour, actions, thoughts do you need to ‘turn away’ from today?

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:

Brown Family (Abbey, Josh, Mike, Sue)

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.