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 14.26

What are you afraid of? Some things that make us afraid are irrational: like a fear of spiders – unless you live in Australia they aren’t going to hurt you! Whereas, there is a perfectly good reason to be afraid of a virus like COVID-19, especially if you have pre-existing chest problems.

Other things are sort of in the middle of those two things. We can be afraid of what other people think of us: which causes us to modify our behaviour to impress them, or pander to what (we think) they want. We can be afraid of things over which we have no control, like the major funding problems hitting / soon to hit businesses and churches up and down the country.

Into all that mess of fear and anxiety comes this proverb. As we’ve seen before, ‘fearing’ God doesn’t mean being ‘afraid’ of him, it means having an appropriate ‘reverence’ for him. This proverb I think links that with trust.

If we learn to place our trust in God, who alone is greater and stronger than all the things we are (rationally or irrationally) afraid of, those fears will, gradually, subside. It’s not that they go away, it’s more that we put them into perspective. Like many whose jobs are under threat of being lost or changed, I am learning in a new way how to do this. And, as I’ve found so many times in my life, the depths of God’s provision and care and strength and peace are far greater than all the things that threaten to overwhelm me… and you.

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:

Dordon (especially those leading it through the vacancy)

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: Coleshill & Polesworth Deanery

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.

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.