Our church building may be closed, but God’s eyes are open and his ears are attentive to our prayers (2 Chronicles 7.15).

Today is the 100th edition of these Daily Prayer resources!

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Opening

Speak these words out loud:

This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One, says:
‘In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength.’

from Isaiah 30.15

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 14.12

I wonder what your initial reaction is to this proverb? It may be to recoil or frown at something that doesn’t seem to fit with the New Testament.

Except, it does. For example:

• ‘If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall.’ (1 Corinthians 10.12)
• ‘[Jesus said,] “Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it”.’ (Matthew 7.13-14)
• ‘[Jesus said,] “Unless you repent, you too will all perish”.’ (Luke 13.5).

We need to be ever so careful of things that sound right, but are actually wrong – and not simply wrong, dangerous. We often forget Jesus’ warning about the easy, wide road – or act as if it’s other people in danger of walking down it, not us.

The most obvious way I see this being a problem for the church today is in what Bonhoeffer called ‘cheap grace’: we hold out the love and welcome of God, and conveniently ignore Jesus’ call to sacrifice everything and follow him, to seek after holiness, to put him first rather than our own desires. We offer something that doesn’t challenge, but lets people simply ‘add’ God’s love to whatever it is they’re doing. It’s all warm and fuzzy and lovely – and leads to death.

If you aren’t changing, if you don’t feel challenged by the Bible, if you never squirm as you read because you know it’s talking about you, then I’m afraid you aren’t listening to it.

The Bible tells us how to find and walk the narrow road with Jesus – are you listening?

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:

Kath Hastilow, Michael Ackroyd, Pauline Sawle

Father, please bless them with your peace, and a deep awareness of your presence with them, every day and in every way.

We also pray for: Marriages & Family Life

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.