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:

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 14.13

I try to be as honest as I can with my personal struggles with emotions and sadness. It is particularly difficult when I am forced to do things in public – it effectively becomes a performance. It has been especially hard – but also even more important than normal – to project positivity during lockdown.

My suspicion is that this is something a number of people do, and find difficult. Actually, I don’t think there is anything wrong with it (with one proviso – as we will see). We need not to give in to the negative emotions we feel, and which can paralyse us from doing anything. My personal experience is that God has given me the power and energy to do what I need to do, even when I really don’t feel like.

The one proviso is this: we need to be wise about ourselves, and wise about other people.

For ourselves, the wisdom is that ‘pretending’ we are ok doesn’t mean we are – we still need to be honest with people we trust and with whom we are close (and, if appropriate, professionals). Simply repressing negative emotion doesn’t solve anything, and in fact makes things words in the long run.

For others, I’ve noticed that when I share struggles, and then people talk to me or see me and I smile, they assume the struggles are over. We all need to remember this proverb and recognise that what we see on the surface isn’t always what’s happening within people’s hearts.

Above all, we need to be patient and compassionate, with others and with ourselves.

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:

Peter & Jane Sheppard, John & Cathy Ward

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: Tamworth Christian Churches (TCC)

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.