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:

The Lord has established Zion,
and in her his afflicted people will find refuge.

from Isaiah 14.32

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 15.1

How do you respond when someone is angry with you? I did some training once that categorised people into two camps: hedgehogs (roll up into a ball of bristles) and rhinos (CHARGE!!). Of course, there are more than two types of people, and in reality most of us will respond in both ways, depending on who it is who’s angry with us.

This proverb suggests neither curling up and ‘ignoring’ anger, nor responding with equal force. The first doesn’t solve anything, and the second simply makes it worse. I’m sure you’ve experienced both! Instead, Solomon invites us to try a ‘gentle’ answer. By which he doesn’t mean a patronising / passive-aggressive answer like ‘calm down, dear’ or ‘get some perspective’ (!).

‘Gentleness’ is listed in the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5. It means something like ‘humility’, ‘accepting’, ‘being considerate’. I think when it comes to anger, responding with ‘gentleness’ possibly means trying to understand – there is usually a reason why people get angry. A reaction of compassionate understanding, showing love and kindness – that is how to diffuse anger.

I’m very bad at this. Far too often I react badly: when people are passive-aggressive towards me I twist up inside, and when people come at me all guns blazing I blaze back. But on occasion I have managed to hear the teaching and wisdom of this problem: hear and put it into practice.

Is this a lesson you need to learn? Are there people who really wind you up? Perhaps ask God to help you respond with gentleness next time you are with them…

(As I’ve said before, if you live with someone who is angry and abusive towards you, ‘turning the other cheek’ does not apply. Please speak to me or someone if you need help.)

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:

Doug & Irene Dean, Patricia Wood

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: Poverty & Deprivation in Amington

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.